IC-NRLF 


IRY  OOMMISSIOH 
KEPK1NT9  NO.  1 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

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Class 


THE  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG 


(a) 


f  Of   THt 

[UNIVERSIT 
\ 


FRANK  ARETAS  HASKELL 


WISCONSIN  HISTORY  COMMISSION:    REPRINTS,  No.   i 


THE  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG 


BY    FRANK   ARETAS    HASKELL 

AlDE-DE  CAMP  TO  GENERAL  JOHN  GlBBON,  AND  COLONEL  OF  THIRTY- 
SIXTH  WISCONSIN  INFANTRY 


,l£>S, 

ITY) 


WISCONSIN  HISTORY  COMMISSION 
NOVEMBER,  1908 


TWENTY-FIVE  HUNDRED  COPIES  PRINTED 


DEMOCRAT  PRINTING  CO.,  STATE  PRINTER 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

WISCONSIN  HISTORY  COMMISSION       .         .         .         .     ix 
PREFACE.     77ie  Editor xi 

THE  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG.     Frank  Aretas  Has- 

kell  .       1 


[v] 


180959 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

PORTRAIT  OF  AUTHOR,  while  Colonel  of  Thirty-sixth 

Wisconsin  Infantry      ....     Frontispiece 

MAP  OF  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG,  JULY  2        .         .58 
MAP  OF  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG,  JULY  3        .        .  130 


[vii] 


WISCONSIN  HISTORY  COMMISSION 

(Organized  under  the  provisions  of  Chapter  298, 
Laws  of  1905,  as  amended  by  Chapter  378, 
Laws  of  1907) 

JAMES  0.  DAVIDSON 

Governor  of  Wisconsin 

FREDERICK  J.  TURNER 

Professor  of  American  History  in  the   University 
of  Wisconsin 

REUBEN  G.  THWAITES 

Secretary  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wis 
consin 

HENRY  E.  LEGLER 

Secretary  of  the   Wisconsin  Library  Commission 

CHARLES  E.  ESTABROOK 

Representing  Department  of    Wisconsin,    Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic 


Chairman,  COMMISSIONER  ESTABROOK 
Secretary  and  Editor,  COMMISSIONER  THWAITES 

Committee  on  Publications,  COMMISSIONERS  LEGLER, 
THWAITES,  AND  TURNER 

[ix] 


PREFACE 

Frank  Aretas  Haskell  was  born  at  Tunbridge, 
Vermont,  the  son  of  Aretas  and  Ann  (Folson) 
Haskell,  on  the  13th  of  July,  1828.  Graduating 
from  Dartmouth  College  with  distinguished  hon 
ors,  in  the  class  of  1 854,  the  young  man  came  to 
Madison  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  and  entered 
the  law  firm  of  Orton,  Atwood  &  Orton.  His 
career  in  this  profession  was  increasingly  success 
ful,  until  in  1 861  it  was  interrupted  by  the  outbreak 
of  the  War  of  Secession. 

Commissioned  on  June  20  of  that  year  as  First 
Lieutenant  of  Company  I  of  the  Sixth  Wisconsin 
Volunteer  Infantry  of  the  Iron  Brigade,  he  served 
as  Adjutant  of  his  regiment  until  April  1 4,  1 862. 
Contemporaneous  accounts  state  that  "much  of  the 
excellent  discipline  for  which  this  regiment  was 
distinguished,  was  due  to  his  soldierly  efforts  dur 
ing  its  organization." 

He  was  called  from  the  adjutancy  of  the  Sixth 
to  be  aide-de-camp  to  General  John  Gibbon,  when 
the  latter  assumed  command  of  the  Iron  Brigade, 
and  remained  in  such  service  until  (February  9, 

[xi] 


PREFACE 

1864)  he  was  promoted  to  be  Colonel  of  the 
Thirty-sixth  Wisconsin.  While  aide  to  General 
Gibbon  he  was  temporarily  on  the  staffs  of  several 
other  generals,  including  Edwin  V.  Sumner  and 
G.  K.  Warren,  and  won  wide  repute  as  a  soldier 
of  unusual  ability  and  courage.  With  the  Iron 
Brigade,  he  participated  in  the  campaigns  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  taking  part  in  reconnois- 
sancesat  Orange  Court  House  and  Stephensburg, 
in  skirmishes  at  Rappahannock  Station  and  Sul 
phur  Springs,  and  in  the  battles  of  Gainesville, 
Second  Bull  Run,  South  Mountain,  Antietam, 
Fredericksburg,  Chancellorsville,  and  Gettys 
burg.  Reporting  upon  the  battle  of  December  1 3, 
1 862,  at  Fredericksburg,  General  Gibbon  alluded 
to  his  favorite  aide  as  being  "constantly  on  the 
field,  conveying  orders  and  giving  directions  amid 
the  heaviest  fire." 

Writing  of  Gettysburg,  which  is  herein  so 
graphically  depicted  by  Haskell,  General  Francis 
A.  Walker,  in  his  History  of  the  Second  Army 
Corps,1  refers  to  our  author  as  one  who  was  "brav- 

1  Hi  story  of  the  Second  Army  Corps  in  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac  (New*  York,  1886),  pp.  512,  513. 

[xii] 


PREFACE 

est  of  the  brave,  riding  mounted  through  an  interval 
between  the  Union  battalions,  and  calling  upon  the 
troops  to  go  forward."  He  further  says:  "Colonel 
Frank  A.  Haskell,  of  Wisconsin,  had  been  known 
for  his  intelligence  and  courage,  for  his  generosity 
of  character  and  his  exquisite  culture,  long  before 
the  third  day  of  Gettysburg,  when,  acting  as  aide 
to  General  Gibbon,  he  rode  mounted  between  the 
two  lines,  then  swaying  backward  and  forward  un 
der  each  other's  fire,  calling  upon  the  men  of  the 
Second  Division  to  follow  him,  and  setting  an  ex 
ample  of  valor  and  self  devotion  never  forgotten 
by  any  man  of  the  thousands  who  witnessed  it." 

General  Winfield  S.  Hancock,  officially  re 
porting  upon  the  battle,  thus  alluded  to  Haskell's 
deed:  "I  desire  particularly  to  refer  to  the  serv 
ices  of  a  gallant  young  officer,  First  Lieutenant 
F.  A.  Haskell,  aide-de-camp  to  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  Gibbon,  who,  at  a  critical  period  of  the  battle, 
when  the  contending  forces  were  but  50  or  60 
yards  apart,  believing  that  an  example  was  neces 
sary,  and  ready  to  sacrifice  his  life,  rode  between 
the  contending  lines  with  a  view  of  giving  encour 
agement  to  ours  and  leading  it  forward,  he  being 

[  xiii  ] 


PREFACE 

at  the  moment  the  only  mounted  officer  in  a  similar 
position.  He  was  slightly  wounded  and  his  horse 
was  shot  in  several  places." 

General  Gibbon's  report  said:  "I  desire  to  call 
particular  attention  to  the  manner  in  which  several 
of  the  subordinate  reports  mention  the  services  of 
my  gallant  aide,  Lieutenant  F.  A.  Haskell,  Sixth 
Wisconsin,  and  to  add  my  testimony  of  his  valu 
able  services.  This  young  officer  has  been  through 
many  battles,  and  distinguished  himself  alike  in  all 
by  his  conspicuous  coolness  and  bravery,  and  in 
this  one  was  slightly  wounded,  but  refused  to  quit 
the  field.  It  has  always  been  a  source  of  regret  to 
me  that  our  military  system  offers  no  plan  for  re 
warding  his  merit  and  services  as  they  deserve." 
In  later  years,  the  General  again  publicly  alluded 
to  Haskell's  heroic  conduct  on  this  field:  "There 
was  a  young  man  on  my  staff  who  had  been  in 
every  battle  with  me  and  who  did  more  than  any 
other  one  man  to  repulse  Pickett's  assault  at  Get 
tysburg  and  he  did  the  part  of  a  general  there." 

General  William  Harrow  spoke  of  Haskell  as 
having  "greatly  distinguished  himself  by  his  con 
stant  exertion  in  the  most  exposed  places." 


XIV 


PREFACE 

Colonel  Norman  J.  Hall,  of  the  Michigan  Sev 
enth  Infantry,  and  then  commanding  the  Third 
Brigade,  thus  referred  to  the  incident:  "I  cannot 
omit  speaking  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  magnifi 
cent  conduct  of  Lieutenant  Haskell,  of  General 
Gibbon's  staff,  in  bringing  forward  regiments  and 
in  nerving  the  troops  to  their  work  by  word  and 
fearless  example." 

Upon  receiving  his  appointment  as  Colonel  of 
the  Thirty-sixth  Wisconsin,  Haskell  returned  at 
once  to  this  State,  and  recruited  and  organized  the 
regiment  for  the  field.  Although  his  commission 
was  dated  from  February  9,  he  was  not  mustered 
into  service  as  Colonel  until  March  23.  The  regi 
ment,  which  had  been  assigned  to  the  First  Bri 
gade,  Second  Division  of  the  Second  Army  Corps, 
left  Madison  May  1 0,  and  seven  days  later  was 
acting  as  reserve  during  the  battle  at  Spottsylvania. 
Its  experiences  thenceforth  were  of  the  most  active 
character. 

The  command  went  into  action  at  Cold  Harbor, 
Virginia,  early  in  the  morning  of  June  3.  The 
official  account  of  what  followed,  is  contained  in 

[xv] 


PREFACE 

the  report  of  the  State  Adjutant  General:1  "The 
whole  line  advanced  upon  the  enemy  by  brigades, 
in  column  closed  in  mass  by  regiments,  the  Thirty  ~ 
sixth  being  in  rear  of  the  brigade.  On  advancing 
about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  across  an  open  field, 
under  a  heavy  artillery  fire,  and  when  within  about 
twenty-five  rods  of  the  rebel  works,  partially  pro 
tected  by  the  brow  of  a  low  hill,  the  Thirty-sixth 
was  found  in  the  advance,  leading  the  brigade. 
During  the  advance,  Colonel  McKeen,  command 
ing  the  brigade,  was  killed,  when  the  command 
devolved  upon  Colonel  Haskell.  After  a  mo 
ment's  rest,  Colonel  Haskell,  by  command  of  Gen 
eral  Gibbon,  ordered  the  brigade  forward.  The 
men  rose  to  obey,  and  were  met  by  a  shower  of 
bullets,  when  the  other  parts  of  the  line  halted. 
Colonel  Haskell  surveyed  the  situation  for  a  mo 
ment,  as  if  irresolute;  he  finally  gave  the  order, 
'Lie  down,  men,'  which  was  at  once  obeyed. 
An  instant  afterwards,  he  was  struck  in  the  head 
by  a  rebel  bullet,  and  instantly  killed.  Thus 
fell  one  of  Wisconsin's  most  gallant  soldiers,  a 

1  Annual  Report  of  the  Adjutant  General  of  the  State  of  Wis 
consin  for  1865  (Madison,  1 866),  pp.  5  1 0,  5  1  I . 

[xvi] 


PREFACE 

thorough  disciplinarian,  and  an  accomplished 
scholar." 

Colonel  Clement  E.  Warner,  then  a  Captain  in 
the  Thirty-sixth,  but  later  its  Major  and  Lieuten 
ant-Colonel,  has  left  us  this  report  of  the  battle  of 
Cold  Harbor,  so  far  as  concerns  Colonel  Haskell's 
participation  and  death:2 

"Frank  A.  Haskell  was  in  every  respect  an 
ideal  soldier,  according  to  the  highest  and  best 
definition  of  that  term.  I  think  he  was  by  educa 
tion,  experience,  association,  natural  ability,  and 
temperament  fully  as  competent  to  handle  a  Di 
vision  as  a  Regiment,  and  in  many  respects  the 
higher  would  seem  the  more  appropriate  position 
for  him. 

"He  rejoined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  with 
his  regiment,  the  Thirty-sixth  Wisconsin,  about  the 
middle  of  May,  1864,  at  Spottsylvania.  The 
two  armies  were  joined  in  a  death  struggle,  which 
was  destined  to  continue  almost  uninterruptedly 
until  one  was  effectually  wiped  from  the  face  of 
the  earth.  June  3  at  Cold  Harbor,  our  army  was 

2  Columbus  (Wis.)  Democrat,  May  27,  1895. 
(b)  [  xvii  ] 


PREFACE 

massed  by  division  and  in  that  formation  pro 
jected  upon  the  fortifications  of  the  enemy.  Their 
line  of  works  was  really  the  outer  line  of  the  de 
fenses  of  Richmond,  and  were  perfectly  con 
structed  for  defense,  and  manned  by  General  Lee's 
army,  which  when  protected  by  works  had  thus 
far  been  able  to  successfully  withstand  General 
Grant's  continuous  attacks. 

"With  the  general  advance  our  Division  moved 
at  daylight  for  nearly  two  miles  over  undulating 
land,  part  of  the  time  subject  to  the  fire  of  the  en 
emy  and  occasionally  protected  from  it  by  slight 
depressions  in  the  land.  We  moved  forward  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  and  in  thirty  minutes  were  in 
the  immediate  presence  of  the  enemy's  line,  and 
subjected  to  as  murderous  a  fire  as  met  Pickett's 
men  at  the  celebrated  charge  at  Gettysburg. 

"Colonel  Haskell,  who  was  so  largely  instru 
mental  in  saving  the  day  at  Gettysburg,  now  finds 
his  position  exactly  reversed  from  what  it  was  on 
that  memorable  occasion.  Now  his  men  were 
charging  and  the  enemy  on  the  defense,  protected 
by  their  works.  He  was  standing  nearly  in  front 
of  the  remnant  of  the  Second  Division  which  had 


XVlll 


PREFACE 

thus  far  pressed  forward  through  the  murderous 
fire,  and  apparently  seeing  the  hopelessness  of  fur 
ther  advance,  and  willing  to  save  this  remnant  of 
his  men,  gave  the  order,  'Lie  down,  men,'  which 
was  the  last  order  he  ever  gave.  It  was  promptly 
obeyed.  For  an  instant  it  seemed  that  he  was  the 
only  man  standing,  and  only  for  an  instant,  for  as 
he  stood  surveying  the  havoc  around  him,  and 
glanced  toward  the  enemy's  line,  he  was  seen  to 
throw  up  his  arms  and  sink  to  the  earth,  his  fore 
head  pierced  by  a  rebel  ball.  And  this  was  the 
last  of  Frank  Haskell's  consciousness.  He  had 
fearlessly  and  freely  given  his  young  life  for  his 
country.  Nearly  fifteen  thousand  companions 
joined  him  in  the  sacrifice  on  that  fateful  morning, 
the  greatest  loss  of  any  single  charge  in  the  war." 
In  his  own  report  of  the  battle,  General  Han 
cock  said:  "General  Tyler  was  wounded  and 
taken  from  the  field  and  the  lamented  McKeen,1 
after  pushing  his  command  as  far  as  his  example 
could  urge  it,  was  killed.  The  gallant  Haskell 
succeeded  to  the  command,  but  was  carried  from 


1  Colonel   Harvey  Boyd   McKeen,  of   Pennsylvania,  commander 
of  the  Third  Brigade. 

[xix  ] 


PREFACE 


the  field  mortally  wounded,  while  making  re 
newed  efforts  to  carry  the  enemy's  works."  In  a 
field  order,  dated  September  28,  1864,  he  further 
declared,  "At  Cold  Harbor  the  Colonel  of  the 
Thirty-sixth  Wisconsin,  as  gallant  a  soldier  as  ever 
lived,  fell  dead  on  the  field." 

General  Gibbon,  on  receiving  the  sad  news  of 
the  Colonel's  death,  cried,  "My  God!  I  have  lost 
my  best  friend,  and  one  of  the  best  soldiers  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  has  fallen!" 

The  late  Hon.  A.  J.  Turner,  editor  of  the  Port 
age  State  Register,  who  was  well  acquainted  with 
Colonel  Haskell,  said  of  him:1  "While  com 
manding  a  brigade  in  the  assault  upon  the  enemy's 
lines  at  the  battle  of  the  Chickahominy,  near  Rich 
mond,  Virginia,  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  the  3d 
of  June,  he  was  struck  in  the  right  temple  by  a 
Rebel  sharpshooter's  bullet,  and  died  in  about 
three  hours.  His  body  was  taken  in  charge  by  his 
young  and  faithful  Orderly,  John  N.  Ford,  who, 
though  himself  wounded  in  the  head  and  left  arm, 
persevered  through  all  difficulties  and  brought  it 

1  Columbus  (Wis.)  Democrat,  May  27,  1895. 

[xx] 


PREFACE 

home  to  Portage  where,  attended  by  a  great  con 
course  of  people,  it  was  buried  in  Silver  Lake 
cemetery,  June  1 2,  1 864." 

Feeling  tributes  to  his  memory  were  rendered 
by  the  Dane  County  Bar  Association,  and  the 
Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Madison. 

This  story  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg  was  writ 
ten  by  Lieutenant  Haskell  to  his  brother,  H.  M. 
Haskell  of  Portage,  not  long  after  the  contest.  It 
was  not  intended  for  publication;  but  its  great 
merit  was  at  once  recognized,  and  it  was  offered 
to  Mr.  Turner  for  insertion  in  his  weekly  paper. 
It  was,  however,  too  long  a  document  for  such  pur 
pose.  About  fifteen  years  later,  it  was  published 
in  a  pamphlet  of  72  pages,  without  even  a  title- 
page,  for  private  circulation  only.  The  account 
was  widely  read  by  military  experts,  and  received 
much  praise  for  both  its  literary  and  its  profes 
sional  merit.  The  pamphlet  having  become  rare, 
for  the  edition  was  small,  was  reprinted  in  1 898  as 
part  of  the  history  of  Dartmouth's  Class  of  1 854. 
Certain  omissions  and  changes  were,  however, 
made  therein  by  its  editor,  Captain  Daniel  Hall, 
who  was  an  aide  on  General  Howard's  staff;  the 

[xxi] 


PREFACE 

reason  assigned  being,  that  the  account  was  writ 
ten  so  soon  after  the  battle  that  "although  surpris 
ingly  accurate  in  minute  details,"  the  author  was 
not  fully  informed  relative  to  one  or  two  facts 
which  to  him  seemed  to  reflect  on  General  Sickles. 
Captain  Hall  assumed  that  were  Colonel  Haskell 
now  living,  he  would  have  justified  these  omis 
sions.  In  March,  1 908,  the  Dartmouth  College 
version  was  reprinted  by  the  Commandery  of 
Massachusetts,  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal 
Legion,  under  the  editorship  of  Captain  Charles 
Hunt. 

In  deciding  to  inaugurate  its  own  series  of  Re 
prints  with  Colonel  Haskell's  brilliant  paper,  the 
Wisconsin  History  Commission  has,  in  accordance 
with  its  fixed  policy,  reverted  to  the  original  edi 
tion,  which  is  here  presented  entire,  exactly  as  first 
printed.  Whatever  might  have  been  the  author's 
later  judgment,  in  the  event  of  his  surviving  the 
war,  the  Commission  does  not  feel  warranted  in 
disturbing  this  original  text  in  the  slightest  degree 
— the  present  being  an  unexpurgated  reprint  of  a 
rare  and  valuable  narrative  written  by  a  soldier  in 
whose  memory  Wisconsin  feels  especial  pride. 

[  xxii  ] 


PREFACE 

Opinions  or  errors  of  fact  on  the  part  of  the  respec 
tive  authors  represented  both  in  Original  Narra 
tives  and  in  Reprints  issued  by  the  Commission, 
have  not  nor  will  they  be  modified  by  the  latter. 
For  all  statements,  of  whatever  character,  the 
author  alone  is  responsible. 

The  Commissioners  are  grateful  to  Mrs.  W.  G. 
Clough,  public  librarian  of  Portage,  for  the  loan 
of  that  institution's  rare  copy  of  the  original,  for 
the  purpose  of  this  reprint. 

R.  G.  T. 

WISCONSIN  HISTORICAL  LIBRARY 
December,  1908 


[  xxiii  ] 


THE  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG1 

THE  GREAT  battle  of  Gettysburg  is  now  an 
event  of  the  past.  The  composition  and 
strength  of  the  armies,  their  leaders,  the  strategy, 
the  tactics,  the  result,  of  that  field  are  to-day  by 
the  side  of  those  of  Waterloo — matters  of  history. 
A  few  days  ago  these  things  were  otherwise.  This 
great  event  did  not  so  "cast  its  shadow  before,"  as 
to  moderate  the  hot  sunshine  that  streamed  upon 
our  preceding  march,  or  to  relieve  our  minds  of  ail 
apprehension  of  the  result  of  the  second  great 
Rebel  invasion  of  the  soil  North  of  the  Potomac. 

1  Upon  the  Portage  Public  Library's  copy  of  the  original  pamphlet 
edition,  Hon.  A.  J.  Turner  wrote  the  following  explanatory  note: 

"  The  within  description  of  the  '  The  Battle  of  Gettysburg  *  was 
written  by  Colonel  Frank  A.  Haskell  who  was  on  the  staff  of  Gen 
eral  John  Gibbon,  to  his  brother  at  Portage,  Wisconsin.  It  was 
submitted  to  me  soon  after,  in  the  State  Register  office,  but  its  great 
length  rendered  its  publication  in  our  columns  quite  impossible.  The 
article  was  written  from  the  *  Head  Quarters  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,'  but  bore  no  date,  although  it  was  during  the  same  month 
as  the  battle,  and  was  written  by  Colonel  Haskell  in  the  intervals  of 
the  march,  and  was  a  private  letter  without  design  of  publication 
— A.  J.  TUKXER." 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

No,  not  many  days  since,  at  times  we  were  filled 
with  fears  and  forebodings.  The  people  of  the 
country,  I  suppose,  shared  the  anxieties  of  the 
army,  somewhat  in  common  with  us,  but  they 
could  not  have  felt  them  as  keenly  as  we  did.  We 
were  upon  the  immediate  theatre  of  events,  as  they 
occurred  from  day  to  day,  and  were  of  them.  We 
were  the  army  whose  province  it  should  be  to  meet 
this  invasion  and  repel  it ;  on  us  was  the  immediate 
responsibility  for  results,  most  momentous  for  good 
or  ill,  as  yet  in  the  future.  And  so  in  addition  to 
the  solicitude  of  all  good  patriots,  we  felt  that  our 
own  honor  as  men  and  as  an  army,  as  well  as  the 
safety  of  the  Capitol  and  the  country,  were  at 
stake. 

And  what  if  that  invasion  should  be  successful, 
and  in  the  coming  battle,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
should  be  overpowered?  Would  it  not  be? 
When  our  army  was  much  larger  than  at  present — 
had  rested  all  winter — and,  nearly  perfect  in  all 
its  departments  and  arrangements,  was  the  most 
splendid  army  this  continent  ever  saw,  only  a  part 
of  the  Rebel  force,  which  it  now  had  to  contend 
with,  had  defeated  it — its  leader,  rather — at 

[2] 


GETTYSBURG 

Chancellorsville !  Now  the  Rebel  had  his  whole 
force  assembled,  he  was  flushed  with  recent  vic 
tory,  was  arrogant  in  his  career  of  unopposed  inva 
sion,  at  a  favorable  season  of  the  year.  His  daring 
plans,  made  by  no  unskilled  head,  to  transfer  the 
war  from  his  own  to  his  enemies'  ground,  were 
being  successful.  He  had  gone  a  day's  march 
from  his  front  before  Hooker  moved,  or  was  aware 
of  his  departure.  Then,  I  believe,  the  army  in 
general,  both  officers  and  men,  had  no  confidence 
in  Hooker,  in  either  his  honesty  or  ability. 

Did  they  not  charge  him  personally,  with  the 
defeat  at  Chancellorsville?  Were  they  not  still 
burning  with  indignation  against  him  for  that  dis 
grace?  And  now,  again  under  his  leadership,  they 
were  marching  against  the  enemy!  And  they 
knew  of  nothing,  short  of  the  providence  of  God, 
that  could,  or  would,  remove  him.  For  many  rea 
sons,  during  the  marches  prior  to  the  battle,  we 
were  anxious,  and  at  times  heavy  at  heart. 

But  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  no  band  of 
school  girls.  They  were  not  the  men  likely  to  be 
crushed  or  utterly  discouraged  by  any  new  cir 
cumstances  in  which  they  might  find  themselves 

[3] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

placed.  They  had  lost  some  battles,  they  had 
gained  some.  They  knew  what  defeat  was,  and 
what  was  victory.  But  here  is  the  greatest  praise 
that  I  can  bestow  upon  them,  or  upon  any  army: 
With  the  elation  of  victory,  or  the  depression  of 
defeat,  amidst  the  hardest  toils  of  the  campaign, 
under  unwelcome  leadership,  at  all  times,  and  un 
der  all  circumstances,  they  v/ere  a  reliable  army 
still.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  would  do  as  it 
was  told,  always. 

Well  clothed,  and  well  fed — there  never  could 
be  any  ground  for  complaint  on  these  heads — 
but  a  mighty  work  was  before  them.  Onward 
they  moved — night  and  day  were  blended — 
over  many  a  weary  mile,  through  dust,  and 
through  mud,  in  the  broiling  sunshine,  in  the  flood 
ing  rain,  over  steeps,  through  defiles,  across  rivers, 
over  last  year's  battle  fields,  where  the  skeletons  of 
our  dead  brethren,  by  hundreds,  lay  bare  and 
bleaching,  weary,  without  sleep  for  days,  tor 
mented  with  the  newspapers,  and  their  rumors, 
that  the  enemy  was  in  Philadelphia,  in  Baltimore, 
in  all  places  where  he  was  not,  yet  these  men  could 

still  be  relied  upon,  I  believe,  when  the  day  of 

[4] 


/ 

o 


UNIVERS 


GETTYSBURG 

conflict  should  come.  "Haec  olim  meminisse 
juvabit."  We  did  not  then  know  this.  I  mention 
them  now,  that  you  may  see  that  in  those  times  we 
had  several  matters  to  think  about,  and  to  do,  that 
were  not  as  pleasant  as  sleeping  upon  a  bank  of 
violets  in  the  shade. 

In  moving  from  near  Falmouth,  Va.,  the  army 
was  formed  in  several  columns,  and  took  several 
roads.  The  Second  Corps,  the  rear  of  the  whole, 
was  the  last  to  move,  and  left  Falmouth  at  day 
break,  on  the  1  5th  of  June,  and  pursued  its  march 
through  Aquia,  Dumfries,  Wolf  Run  Shoales, 
Centerville,  Gainesville,  Thoroughfare  Gap  — 
this  last  we  left  on  the  25th,  marching  back  to 
Haymarket,  where  we  had  a  skirmish  with  the 
cavalry  and  horse  artillery  of  the  enemy  —  Gum 
Spring,  crossing  the  Potomac  at  Edward's  Ferry, 
thence  through  Poolesville,  Frederick,  Liberty, 
and  Union  Town.  We  marched  from  near  Fred 
erick  to  Union  Town,  a  distance  of  thirty-two 
miles,  from  eight  o'clock  A.  M.  to  nine  P.  M.,  on 
the  28th,  and  I  think  this  is  the  longest  march,  ac 
complished  in  so  short  a  time,  by  a  corps  during 

the  war.    On  the  28th,  while  we  were  near  this 

[5] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

latter  place,  we  breathed  a  full  breath  of  joy,  and 
of  hope.  The  Providence  of  God  had  been  with 
us — we  ought  not  to  have  doubted  it — Gen 
eral  Meade  commanded  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac. 

Not  a  favorable  time,  one  would  be  apt  to  sup 
pose,  to  change  the  General  of  a  large  army,  on 
the  eve  of  battle,  the  result  of  which  might  be  to 
destroy  the  Government  and  country!  But  it 
should  have  been  done  long  before.  At  all  events, 
any  change  could  not  have  been  for  the  worse, 
and  the  Administration,  therefore,  hazarded  lit 
tle,  in  making  it  now.  From  this  moment  my  own 
mind  was  easy  concerning  results.  I  now  felt  that 
we  had  a  clear-headed,  honest  soldier,  to  com 
mand  the  army,  who  would  do  his  best  always — 
that  there  would  be  no  repetition  of  Chancellors- 
ville.  Meade  was  not  as  much  known  in  the 
Army  as  many  of  the  other  corps  commanders,  but 
the  officers  who  knew,  all  thought  highly  of  him, 
a  man  of  great  modesty,  with  none  of  those  quali 
ties  which  are  noisy  and  assuming,  and  hankering 
for  cheap  newspaper  fame,  not  at  all  of  the  "gal~ 

lant"  Sickles  stamp.     I  happened  to  know  much 

[6] 


GETTYSBURG 

of  General  Meade — he  and  General  Gibbon 
had  always  been  very  intimate,  and  I  had  seen 
much  of  him — I  think  my  own  notions  concern 
ing  General  Meade  at  this  time,  were  shared  quite 
generally  by  the  army;  at  all  events,  all  who  knew 
him  shared  them. 

By  this  time,  by  reports  that  were  not  mere 
rumors,  we  began  to  hear  frequently  of  the  enemy, 
and  of  his  proximity.  His  cavalry  was  all  about 
us,  making  little  raids  here  and  there,  capturing 
now  and  then  a  few  of  our  wagons,  and  stealing  a 
good  many  horses,  but  doing  us  really  the  least 
amount  possible  of  harm,  for  we  were  not  by  these 
means  impeded  at  all,  and  his  cavalry  gave  no 
information  at  all  to  Lee,  that  he  could  rely  upon, 
of  the  movements  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
The  Infantry  of  the  enemy  was  at  this  time  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Hagerstown,  Chambersburg, 
and  some  had  been  at  Gettysburg,  possibly  were 
there  now.  Gettysburg  was  a  point  of  strategic 
importance,  a  great  many  roads,  some  ten  or 
twelve  at  least  concentrating  there,  so  the  army 
could  easily  converge  to,  or,  should  a  further 

march  be  necessary,  diverge  from  this  point.  Gen- 

[7] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

eral  Meade,  therefore,  resolved  to  try  to  seize  Get 
tysburg,  and  accordingly  gave  the  necessary  orders 
for  the  concentration  of  his  different  columns 
there.  Under  the  new  auspices  the  army  bright 
ened,  and  moved  on  with  a  more  elastic  step 
towards  the  yet  undefined  field  of  conflict. 

The  1  st  Corps,  General  Reynolds,  already  hav 
ing  the  advance,  was  ordered  to  push  forward 
rapidly,  and  take  and  hold  the  town,  if  he  could. 
The  rest  of  the  Army  would  assemble  to  his  sup 
port.  Buford's  Cavalry  co-operated  with  this 
corps,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  1  st  of  July  found 
the  enemy  near  Gettysburg  and  to  the  West,  and 
promptly  engaged  him.  The  First  Corps  having 
bivouaced  the  night  before,  South  of  the  town, 
came  up  rapidly  to  Buford's  support,  and  imme 
diately  a  sharp  battle  was  opened  with  the  ad 
vance  of  the  enemy.  The  first  Division  Gen. 
Wadsworth  was  the  first  of  the  infantry  to  become 
engaged,  but  the  other  two,  commanded  respec 
tively  by  Generals  Robinson  and  Doubleday, 
were  close  at  hand,  and  forming  the  line  of  battle 
to  the  West  and  North-west  of  the  town,  at  a  mean 

distance  of  about  a  mile  away,  the  battle  contin- 

[8] 


GETTYSBURG 

lied  for  some  hours,  with  various  success,  which 
was  on  the  whole  with  us  until  near  noon.  At 
this  time  a  lull  occurred,  which  was  occupied,  by 
both  sides,  in  supervising  and  re-establishing  the 
hastily  formed  lines  of  the  morning.  New  Divi 
sions  of  the  enemy  were  constantly  arriving  and 
taking  up  positions,  for  this  purpose  marching  in 
upon  the  various  roads  that  terminate  at  the  town, 
from  the  West  and  North.  The  position  of  the 
First  Corps  was  then  becoming  perilous  in  the  ex 
treme,  but  it  was  improved  a  little  before  noon  by 
the  arrival  upon  the  field  of  two  Divisions  of  the 
Eleventh  Corps  (Gen  Howard),  these  Divi 
sions  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Schurz 
and  Barlow,  who  by  order  posted  their  commands 
to  the  right  of  the  First  Corps,  with  their  right  re 
tired,  forming  an  angle  with  the  line  of  the  First 
Corps.  Between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  enemy,  now  in  overwhelming  force, 
resumed  the  battle,  with  spirit.  The  portion  of  the 
Eleventh  Corps  making  but  feeble  opposition  to 
the  advancing  enemy,  soon  began  to  fall  back. 

Back  in  disorganized  masses  they  fled  into  the 
town,  hotly  pursued,  and  in  lanes,  in  barns,  in 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

yards  and  cellars,  throwing  away  their  arms,  they 
sought  to  hide  like  rabbits,  and  were  there  cap 
tured,  unresisting,  by  hundreds. 

The  First  Corps,  deprived  of  this  support,  if 
support  it  could  be  called,  outflanked  upon  either 
hand,  and  engaged  in  front,  was  compelled  to 
yield  the  field.  Making  its  last  stand  upon  what 
is  called  "Seminary  Ridge,"  not  far  from  the 
town,  it  fell  back  in  considerable  confusion, 
through  the  South-west  part  of  the  town,  making 
brave  resistance,  however,  but  with  considerable 
loss.  The  enemy  did  not  see  fit  to  follow,  or  to 
attempt  to,  further  than  the  town,  and  so  the  fight 
of  the  1  st  of  July  closed  here.  I  suppose  our  losses 
during  the  day  would  exceed  four  thousand,  of 
whom  a  large  number  were  prisoners.  Such  usu 
ally  is  the  kind  of  loss  sustained  by  the  Eleventh 
Corps.  You  will  remember  that  the  old  "Iron 
Brigade"  is  in  the  First  Corps,  and  consequently 
shared  this  fight,  and  I  hear  their  conduct  praised 
on  all  hands. 

In  the  2nd  Wis.,  Col.  Fairchild  lost  his  left 
arm;  Lieut.  Col.  Stevens,  was  mortally  wounded, 

and  Major  Mansfield  was  wounded;  Lieut.  Col. 

[10] 


GETTYSBURG 

Callis,  of  the  7th  Wis.,  and  Lieut.  Col.  Dudley, 
of  the  19th  Ind.,  were  badly,  dangerously, 
wounded,  the  latter  by  the  loss  of  his  right  leg 
above  the  knee. 

I  saw  "John  Burns,'9  the  only  citizen  of  Get 
tysburg  who  fought  in  the  battle,  and  I  asked  him 
what  troops  he  fought  with.  He  said:  "O,  I 
pitched  in  with  them  Wisconsin  fellers."  I  asked 
what  sort  of  men  they  were,  and  he  answered: 
"They  fit  terribly.  The  Rebs  couldn't  make  any 
thing  of  them  fellers." 

And  so  the  brave  compliment  the  brave.  This 
man  was  touched  by  three  bullets  from  the  enemy, 
but  not  seriously  wounded. 

But  the  loss  of  the  enemy  to-day  was  severe 
also,  probably  in  killed  and  wounded,  as  heavy 
as  our  own,  but  not  so  great  in  prisoners. 

Of  these  latter  the  "Iron  Brigade"  captured  al 
most  an  entire  Mississippi  Brigade,  however. 

Of  the  events  so  far,  of  the  1  st  of  July,  I  do  not 
speak  from  personal  knowledge.  I  shall  now  tell 
my  introduction  to  these  events. 

At  eleven  o'clock  A.  M.,  on  that  day,  the  Sec 
ond  Corps  was  halted  at  Taneytown,  which  is 

[ii] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

thirteen  miles  from  Gettysburg,  South,  and  there 
awaiting  orders,  the  men  were  allowed  to  make 
coffee  and  rest.  At  between  one  and  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  a  message  was  brought  to  Gen. 
Gibbon,  requiring  his  immediate  presence  at  the 
headquarters  of  Gen.  Hancock,  who  commanded 
the  Corps.  I  went  with  Gen.  Gibbon,  and  we 
rode  at  a  rapid  gallop,  to  Gen.  Hancock. 

At  Gen.  Hancock's  headquarters  the  follow 
ing  was  learned:  The  First  Corps  had  met  the 
enemy  at  Gettysburg,  and  had  possession  of  the 
town.  Gen.  Reynolds  was  badly,  it  was  feared 
mortally  wounded;  the  fight  of  the  First  Corps 
still  continued.  By  Gen.  Meade's  order,  Gen. 
Hancock  was  to  hurry  forward  and  take  command 
upon  the  field,  of  all  troops  there,  or  which  should 
arrive  there.  The  Eleventh  Corps  was  near  Get 
tysburg  when  the  messenger  who  told  of  the  fight 
left  there,  and  the  Third  Corps  was  marching  up, 
by  order,  on  the  Emmetsburg  Road — Gen.  Gib 
bon — he  was  not  the  ranking  officer  of  the  Second 
Corps  after  Hancock — was  ordered  to  assume  the 
command  of  the  Second  Corps. 

All  this  was  sudden,  and  for  that  reason  at 

[12] 


GETTYSBURG 

least,  exciting;  but  there  were  other  elements  in 
this  information,  that  aroused  our  profoundest  in 
terest.  The  great  battle  that  we  had  so  anxiously 
looked  for  during  so  many  days,  had  at  length 
opened,  and  it  was  a  relief,  in  some  sense,  to  have 
these  accidents  of  time  and  place  established. 
What  would  be  the  result?  Might  not  the  enemy 
fall  upon  and  destroy  the  First  Corps  before  suc 
cor  could  arrive? 

Gen.  Hancock,  with  his  personal  staff,  at  about 
two  o'clock  P.  M.,  galloped  off  towards  Gettys 
burg;  Gen.  Gibbon  took  his  place  in  command  of 
the  Corps,  appointing  me  his  acting  Assistant  Ad 
jutant  General.  The  Second  Corps  took  arms  at 
once,  and  moved  rapidly  towards  the  field.  It 
was  not  long  before  we  began  to  hear  the  dull 
booming  of  the  guns,  and  as  we  advanced,  from 
many  an  eminence  or  opening  among  the  trees,  we 
could  look  out  upon  the  white  battery  smoke,  puf 
fing  up  from  the  distant  field  of  blood,  and  drifting 
up  to  the  clouds.  At  these  sights  and  sounds,  the 
men  looked  more  serious  than  before  and  were 
more  silent,  but  they  marched  faster,  and  straggled 
less.  At  about  five  o'clock  P.  M.,  as  we  were 

[13] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

riding  along  at  the  head  of  the  column,  we  met  an 
ambulance,  accompanied  by  two  or  three  mounted 
officers — we  knew  them  to  be  staff  officers  of 
Gen.  Reynolds — their  faces  told  plainly  enough 
what  load  the  vehicle  carried — it  was  the  dead 
body  of  Gen.  Reynolds.  Very  early  in  the  action, 
while  seeing  personally  to  the  formation  of  his 
lines  under  fire,  he  was  shot  through  the  head  by  a 
musket  or  rifle  bullet,  and  killed  almost  instantly. 
His  death  at  this  time  affected  us  much,  for  he 
was  one  of  the  soldier  Generals  of  the  army,  a 
man  whose  soul  was  in  his  country's  work,  which 
he  did  with  a  soldier's  high  honor  and  fidelity. 

I  remember  seeing  him  often  at  the  first  battle  of 
Fredericksburg — he  then  commanded  the  First 
Corps — and  while  Meade's  and  Gibbon's  Divi 
sions  were  assaulting  the  enemy's  works,  he  was 
the  very  beau  ideal  of  the  gallant  general. 
Mounted  upon  a  superb  black  horse,  with  his  head 
thrown  back  and  his  great  black  eyes  flashing  fire, 
he  was  every  where  upon  the  field,  seeing  all 
things  and  giving  commands  in  person.  He  died 
as  many  a  friend,  and  many  a  foe  to  the  country 

have  died  in  this  war. 

[14] 


GETTYSBURG 

Just  as  the  dusk  of  evening  fell,  from  Gen. 
Meade,  the  Second  Corps  had  orders  to  halt, 
where  the  head  of  the  column  then  was,  and  to  go 
into  position  for  the  night.  The  Second  Division 
(Gibbon's)  was  accordingly  put  in  position,  upon 
the  left  of  the  (Taneytown)  road,  its  left  near  the 
South-eastern  base  of  "Round  Top"  —of  which 
mountain  more  anon — and  the  right  near  the 
road;  the  Third  Division  was  posted  upon  the 
right  of  the  road,  abreast  of  the  Second;  and  the 
first  Division  in  the  rear  of  these  two — all  facing 
towards  Gettysburg. 

Arms  were  stacked,  and  the  men  lay  down  to 
sleep,  alas!  many  of  them  their  last  but  the  great 
final  sleep  upon  the  earth. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  as  we  came  near  the  field, 
from  some  slightly  wounded  men  we  met,  and  oc 
casional  stragglers  from  the  scene  of  operations  in 
front,  we  got  many  rumors,  and  much  disjointed 
information  of  battle,  of  lakes  of  blood,  of  rout 
and  panic  and  undescribable  disaster,  from  all  of 
which  the  narrators  were  just  fortunate  enough  to 
have  barely  escaped,  the  sole  survivors.  These 
stragglers  are  always  terrible  liars! 

[15] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

About  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  while  I  was 
yet  engaged  in  showing  the  troops  their  positions, 
I  met  Gen.  Hancock,  then  on  his  way  from  the 
front,  to  Gen.  Meade,  who  was  back  toward 
Taneytown ;  and  he,  for  the  purpose  of  having  me 
advise  Gen.  Gibbon,  for  his  information,  gave 
me  quite  a  detailed  account  of  the  situation  of  mat 
ters  at  Gettysburg,  and  of  what  had  transpired 
subsequently  to  his  arrival. 

He  had  arrived  and  assumed  command  there, 
just  when  the  troops  of  the  First  and  Eleventh 
Corps,  after  their  repulse,  were  coming  in  confu 
sion  through  the  town.  Hancock  is  just  the  man 
for  such  an  emergency  as  this.  Upon  horseback 
I  think  he  was  the  most  magnificent  looking  Gen 
eral  in  the  whole  Army  of  the  Potomac  at  that 
time.  With  a  large,  well  shaped  person,  always 
dressed  with  elegance,  even  upon  that  field  of  con 
fusion,  he  would  look  as  if  he  was  "monarch  of  all 
he  surveyed,"  and  few  of  his  subjects  would  dare 
to  question  his  right  to  command,  or  do  aught  else 
but  to  obey.  His  quick  eye,  in  a  flash,  saw  what 
was  to  be  done,  and  his  voice  and  his  royal  right 

hand  at  once  commenced  to  do  it.      Gen.  How- 

[16] 


GETTYSBURG 

ard  had  put  one  of  his  Divisions — Steinwehr — 
with  some  batteries,  in  position,  upon  a  command 
ing  eminence,  at  the  "Cemetery,"  which,  as  a  re 
serve,  had  not  participated  in  the  fight  of  the  day, 
and  this  Division  was  now  of  course  steady. 
Around  this  Division  the  fugitives  were  stopped, 
and  the  shattered  Brigades  and  Regiments,  as  they 
returned,  were  formed  upon  either  flank,  and  faced 
toward  the  enemy  again.  A  show  of  order  at 
least,  speedily  came  from  chaos — the  rout  was  at 
an  end — the  First  and  Eleventh  Corps  were  in 
line  of  battle  again — not  very  systematically 
formed  perhaps — in  a  splendid  position,  and  in  a 
condition  to  offer  resistance,  should  the  enemy  be 
willing  to  try  them.  These  formations  were  all 
accomplished  long  before  night.  Then  some  con 
siderable  portion  of  the  Third  Corps — Gen. 
Sickles — came  up  by  the  Emmetsburg  road,  and 
was  formed  to  the  left  of  the  Taneytown  road,  on 
an  extension  of  the  line  that  I  have  mentioned; 
and  all  the  Twelfth  Corps — Gen.  Slocum — 
arriving  before  night,  the  Divisions  were  put  in  po 
sition,  to  the  right  of  the  troops  already  there, 

to  the  East  of  the  Baltimore  Pike.    The  enemy 

[17] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

was  in  the  town,  and  behind  it,  and  to  the  East  and 
West,  and  appeared  to  be  in  strong  force,  and  was 
jubilant  over  his  day's  success.  Such  was  the  pos 
ture  of  affairs  as  evening  came  on  of  the  first  of 
July.  Gen.  Hancock  was  hopeful,  and  in  the 
best  of  spirits ;  and  from  him  I  also  learned  that 
the  reason  for  halting  the  Second  Corps  in  its  pres 
ent  position,  was  that  it  was  not  then  known  where, 
in  the  corning  fight,  the  line  of  battle  would  be 
formed,  up  near  the  town,  where  the  troops  then 
were,  or  further  back,  towards  Taneytown.  He 
would  give  his  views  upon  this  subject  to  Gen. 
Meade,  which  were  in  favor  of  the  line  near  the 
town — the  one  that  was  subsequently  adopted — 
and  Gen.  Meade  would  determine. 

The  night  before  a  great  pitched  battle  would 
not  ordinarily,  I  suppose,  be  a  time  for  much 
sleep  for  Generals  and  their  staff  officers.  We 
needed  it  enough,  but  there  was  work  to  be  done. 
This  war  makes  strange  confusion  of  night  and 
day!  I  did  not  sleep  at  all  that  night.  It  would, 
perhaps,  be  expected,  on  the  eve  of  such  great 
events,  that  one  should  have  some  peculiar  sort 

of  feelings,  something  extraordinary,  some  great 

[18] 


GETTYSBURG 

arousing  and  excitement  of  the  sensibilities  and 
faculties,  commensurate  with  the  event  itself;  this 
certainly  would  be  very  poetical  and  pretty,  but  so 
far  as  I  was  concerned,  and  I  think  I  can  speak 
for  the  army  in  this  matter,  there  was  nothing  of 
the  kind.  Men  who  had  volunteered  to  fight  the 
battles  of  the  country,  had  met  the  enemy  in  many 
battles,  and  had  been  constantly  before  them,  as 
had  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  were  too  old  sol 
diers,  and  long  ago  too  well  had  weighed  chances 
and  probabilities,  to  be  so  disturbed  now.  No, 
I  believe,  the  army  slept  soundly  that  night,  and 
well,  and  I  am  glad  the  men  did,  for  they  needed 
it. 

At  midnight  Gen.  Meade  and  staff  rode  by 
Gen.  Gibbon's  Head  Quarters,  on  their  way  to  the 
field;  and  in  conversation  with  Gen.  Gibbon, 
Gen.  Meade  announced  that  he  had  decided 
to  assemble  the  whole  army  before  Gettysburg, 
and  offer  the  enemy  battle  there.  The  Second 
Corps  would  move  at  the  earliest  daylight,  to  take 
up  its  position. 

At  three  o'clock,  A.  M.,  of  the  second  of  July, 

the  sleepy  soldiers  of  the  Corps  were  aroused, 

[19] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

before  six  the  Corps  was  up  to  the  field,  and  halted 
temporarily  by  the  side  of  the  Taneytown  road, 
upon  which  it  had  marched,  while  some  move 
ments  of  the  other  troops  were  being  made,  to  en 
able  it  to  take  position  in  the  order  of  battle.  The 
morning  was  thick  and  sultry,  the  sky  overcast 
with  low,  vapory  clouds.  As  we  approached  all 
was  astir  upon  the  crests  near  the  Cemetery,  and 
the  work  of  preparation  was  speedily  going  on. 
Men  looked  like  giants  there  in  the  mist,  and  the 
guns  of  the  frowning  batteries  so  big,  that  it  was  a 
relief  to  know  that  they  were  our  friends. 

Without  a  topographical  map,  some  description 
of  the  ground  and  location  is  necessary  to  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  battle.  With  the  sketch  I 
have  rudely  drawn,  without  scale  or  compass,  I 
hope  you  may  understand  my  description.  The 
line  of  battle  as  it  was  established,  on  the  evening 
of  the  first,  and  morning  of  the  second  of  July  was 
in  the  form  of  the  letter  "U,"  the  troops  facing 
outwards.  And  the  "Cemetery,"  which  is  at  the 
point  of  the  sharpest  curvature  of  the  line,  being 
due  South  of  the  town  of  Gettysburg.  "Round 
Top,"  the  extreme  left  of  the  line,  is  a  small, 

[20] 


GETTYSBURG 

woody,  rocky  elevation,  a  very  little  West  of 
South  of  the  town,  and  nearly  two  miles  from  it. 
The  sides  of  this  are  in  places  very  steep,  and 
its  rocky  summit  is  almost  inaccessible.  A  short 
distance  North  of  this  is  a  smaller  elevation  called 
"Little  Round  Top."  On  the  very  top  of  "Little 
Round  Top,"  we  had  heavy  rifled  guns  in  position 
during  the  battle.  Near  the  right  of  the  line  is  a 
small,  woody  eminence,  named  "Gulp's  Hill/' 
Three  roads  come  up  to  the  town  from  the  South, 
which  near  the  town  are  quite  straight,  and  at  the 
town  the  external  ones  unite,  forming  an  angle  of 
about  sixty,  or  more  degrees.  Of  these,  the  far 
thest  to  the  East  is  the  "Baltimore  Pike,"  which 
passes  by  the  East  entrance  to  the  Cemetery ;  the 
farthest  to  the  West  is  the  "Emmetsburg  road," 
which  is  wholly  outside  of  our  line  of  battle,  but 
near  the  Cemetery,  is  within  a  hundred  yards  of 
it;  the  "Taneytown  road"  is  between  these,  run 
ning  nearly  due  North  and  South,  by  the  Eastern 
base  of  "Round  Top,"  by  the  Western  side  of  the 
Cemetery,  and  uniting  with  the  Emmetsburg  road 
between  the  Cemetery  and  the  town.  High 


[21 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

ground  near  the  Cemetery,  is  named  "Cemetery 
Ridge." 

The  Eleventh  Corps — Gen.  Howard — was 
posted  at  the  Cemetery,  some  of  its  batteries  and 
troops,  actuajly  among  the  graves  and  monuments, 
which  they  used  for  shelter  from  the  enemy's  fire, 
its  left  resting  upon  the  Taneytown  road,  extend 
ing  thence  to  the  East,  crossing  the  Baltimore 
Pike,  and  thence  bending  backwards  towards  the 
South-east;  on  the  right  of  the  Eleventh  came  the 
First  Corps,  now,  since  the  death  of  Gen.  Reyn 
olds,  commanded  by  Gen.  Newton,  formed  in  a 
line  curving  still  more  towards  the  South.  The 
troops  of  these  two  Corps,  were  re-formed  on  the 
morning  of  the  second,  in  order  that  each  might  be 
by  itself,  and  to  correct  some  things  not  done  well 
during  the  hasty  formations  here  the  day  before. 

To  the  right  of  the  First  Corps,  and  on  an  ex 
tension  of  the  same  line,  along  the  crest  and  down 
the  South-eastern  slope  of  Gulp's  Hill,  was  posted 
the  Twelfth  Corps — Gen.  Slocum — its  right, 
which  was  the  extreme  right  of  the  line  of  the 
army,  resting  near  a  small  stream  called  "Rock 
Run."  No  changes,  that  I  am  aware  of,  occurred 

[22] 


GETTYSBURG 

in  the  formation  of  this  Corps,  on  the  morning  of 
the  Second.  The  Second  Corps,  after  the  brief 
halt  that  I  have  mentioned,  moved  up  and  took 
position,  its  right  resting  upon  the  Taneytown 
road,  at  the  left  of  the  Eleventh  Corps,  and  ex 
tending  the  line  thence,  nearly  a  half  mile,  almost 
due  South,  towards  Round  Top,  with  its  Divisions 
in  the  following  order,  from  right  to  left:  The 
Third,  Gen.  Alex  Hays;  the  Second  (Gibbon's) , 
Gen.  Harrow,  (temporarily);  the  First,  Gen. 
Caldwell.  The  formation  was  in  line  by  brigade 
in  column,  the  brigade  being  in  column  by  regi 
ment,  with  forty  paces  interval  between  regimental 
lines,  the  Second  and  Third  Divisions  having  each 
one,  and  the  First  Division,  two  brigades — there 
were  four  brigades  in  the  First — similarly  formed, 
in  reserve,  one  hundred  and  fifty  paces  in  the  rear 
of  the  line  of  their  respective  Divisions.  That  is, 
the  line  of  the  Corps,  exclusive  of  its  reserves,  was 
the  length  of  six  regiments,  deployed,  and  the  in 
tervals  between  them,  some  of  which  were  left 
wide  for  the  posting  of  the  batteries,  and  consisted 
of  four  common  deployed  lines,  each  of  two  ranks 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

of  men,  and  a  little  more  than  one-third  over  in 
reserve. 

The  five  batteries,  in  all  twenty-eight  guns, 
were  posted  as  follows:  Woodruff's  regular,  six 
twelve-pound  Napoleon's,  brass,  between  the  two 
brigades,  in  line  of  the  Third  Division ;  Arnold's 
"A"  first  R.  L,  six  three-inch  Parrotts,  rifled,  and 
Cushing's  Regular,  four  three-inch  Ordnance, 
rifled,  between  the  Third  and  Second  Division; 
Hazard's,  (commanded  during  the  battle  by 
Lieut.  Brown,)  "B"  first  R.  L,  and  Rhorty's  N. 
G.  each,  six  twelve-pound  Napoleon's,  brass,  be 
tween  the  Second  and  First  Division. 

I  have  been  thus  specific  in  the  description  of  the 
posting  and  formation  of  the  Second  Corps,  be 
cause  they  were  works  that  I  assisted  to  perform; 
and  also  that  the  other  Corps  were  similarly 
posted,  with  reference  to  the  strength  of  the  lines, 
and  the  intermixing  of  infantry  and  artillery. 
From  this,  you  may  get  a  notion  of  the  whole. 

The  Third  Corps — Gen.  Sickles — the  remain 
der  of  it  arriving  upon  the  field  this  morning,  was 
posted  upon  the  left  of  the  Second  extending  the 

line  still  in  the  direction  of  Round  Top,  with  its 

[24] 


GETTYSBURG 

left  resting  near  "Little  Round  Top."  The  left 
of  the  Third  Corps  was  the  extreme  left  of  the 
line  of  battle,  until  changes  occurred,  which  will 
be  mentioned  in  the  proper  place.  The  Fifth 
Corps — Gen.  Sykes — coming  on  the  Baltimore 
Pike  about  this  time,  was  massed  there,  near  the 
line  of  battle,  and  held  in  reserve  until  some  time 
in  the  afternoon,  when  it  changed  position,  as  I 
shall  describe. 

I  cannot  give  a  detailed  account  of  the  cavalry, 
for  I  saw  but  little  of  it.  It  was  posted  near  the 
wings,  and  watched  the  roads  and  the  movements 
of  the  enemy  upon  the  flanks  of  the  army,  but  fur 
ther  than  this  participated  but  little  in  the  battle. 
Some  of  it  was  also  used  for  guarding  the  trains, 
which  were  far  to  the  rear.  The  artillery  reserve, 
which  consisted  of  a  good  many  batteries,  were 
posted  between  the  Baltimore  Pike  and  the  Tan- 
eytown  road,  on  very  nearly  the  center  of  a  di 
rect  line  passing  through  the  extremities  of  the 
wings.  Thus  it  could  be  readily  sent  to  any  part 
of  the  line.  The  Sixth  Corps — Gen.  Sedgwick — 
did  not  arrive  upon  the  field  until  some  time  in  the 

afternoon,  but  it  was  now  not  very  far  away,  and 

[25] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

was  coming  up  rapidly  on  the  Baltimore  Pike.  No 
fears  were  entertained  that  "Uncle  John,"  as  his 
men  call  Gen.  Sedgwick,  would  not  be  in  the  right 
place  at  the  right  time. 

These  dispositions  were  all  made  early,  I  think 
before  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Skirmishers 
were  posted  well  out  all  around  the  line,  and  all 
put  in  readiness  for  battle.  The  enemy  did  not 
yet  demonstrate  himself.  With  a  look  at  the 
ground  now,  I  think  you  may  understand  the 
movements  of  the  battle.  From  Round  Top,  by 
the  line  of  battle,  round  to  the  extreme  right,  I 
suppose  is  about  three  miles.  From  this  same  emi 
nence  to  the  Cemetery,  extends  a  long  ridge  or 
hill — more  resembling  a  great  wave  than  a  hill, 
however — with  its  crest,  which  was  the  line  of 
battle,  quite  direct,  between  the  points  mentioned. 
To  the  West  of  this,  that  is,  towards  the  enemy, 
the  ground  falls  away  by  a  very  gradual  descent, 
across  the  Emmetsburg  road,  and  then  rises  again, 
forming  another  ridge,  nearly  parallel  to  the  first, 
but  inferior  in  altitude,  and  something  over  a  thou 
sand  yards  away.  A  belt  of  woods  extends  partly 

along  this  second  ridge,  and  partly  farther  to  the 

[26] 


GETTYSBURG 

West,  at  distances  of  from  one  thousand  to  thirteen 
hundred  yards  away  from  our  line.  Between  these 
ridges,  and  along  their  slopes,  that  is,  in  front  of 
the  Second  and  Third  Corps,  the  ground  is  culti 
vated,  and  is  covered  with  fields  of  wheat,  now 
nearly  ripe,  with  grass  and  pastures,  with  some 
peach  orchards,  with  fields  of  waving  corn,  and 
some  farm  houses,  and  their  out  buildings  along 
the  Emmetsburg  road.  There  are  very  few  places 
within  the  limits  mentioned  where  troops  and  guns 
could  move  concealed.  There  are  some  oaks  of 
considerable  growth,  along  the  position  of  the 
right  of  the  Second  Corps,  a  group  of  small 
trees,  sassafras  and  oak,  in  front  of  the  right  of 
the  SeconcJ  Division  of  this  Corps  also;  and 
considerable  woods  immediately  in  front  of  the 
left  of  the  Third  Corps,  and  also  to  the  West  of, 
and  near  Round  Top.  At  the  Cemetery,  where 
is  Cemetery  Ridge,  to  which  the  line  of  the  Elev 
enth  Corps  conforms,  is  the  highest  point  in  our 
line,  except  Round  Top.  From  this  the  ground 
falls  quite  abruptly  to  the  town,  the  nearest  point 
of  which  is  some  five  hundred  yards  away  from 


[27 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

the  line,  and  is  cultivated,  and  checkered  with 
stone  fences. 

The  same  is  the  character  of  the  ground  occu 
pied  by,  and  in  front  of  the  left  of  the  First  Corps, 
which  is  also  on  a  part  of  Cemetery  Ridge.  The 
right  of  this  Corps,  and  the  whole  of  the  Twelfth, 
are  along  Gulp's  Hill,  and  in  woods,  and  the 
ground  is  very  rocky,  and  in  places  in  front  pre 
cipitous — a  most  admirable  position  for  defense 
from  an  attack  in  front,  where,  on  account  of  the 
woods,  no  artillery  could  be  used  with  effect  by 
the  enemy.  Then  these  last  three  mentioned 
Corps  had,  by  taking  rails,  by  appropriating  stone 
fences,  by  felling  trees,  and  digging  the  earth, 
during  the  night  of  the  first  of  July,  made  for 
themselves  excellent  breast  works,  which  were  a 
very  good  thing  indeed.  The  position  of  the 
First  and  Twelfth  Corps  was  admirably  strong, 
therefore.  Within  the  line  of  battle  is  an  irregu 
lar  basin,  somewhat  woody  and  rocky  in  places, 
but  presenting  few  obstacles  to  the  moving  of 
troops  and  guns,  from  place  to  place  along  the 
lines,  and  also  affording  the  advantage  that  all 

such  movements,  by  reason  of  the  surrounding 

[28] 


GETTYSBURG 

crests,  were  out  of  view  of  the  enemy.  On  the 
whole  this  was  an  admirable  position  to  fight  a 
defensive  battle,  good  enough,  I  thought,  when  I 
saw  it  first,  and  better  I  believe  than  could  be 
found  elsewhere  in  a  circle  of  many  miles.  Evils, 
sometimes  at  least,  are  blessings  in  disguise,  for 
the  repulse  of  our  forces,  and  the  death  of  Reyn 
olds,  on  the  first  of  July,  with  the  opportune  ar 
rival  of  Hancock  to  arrest  the  tide  of  fugitives  and 
fix  it  on  these  heights,  gave  us  this  position — per 
haps  the  position  gave  us  the  victory.  On  arriving 
upon  the  field,  Gen.  Meade  established  his  head 
quarters  at  a  shabby  little  farm  house  on  the  left 
of  the  Taneytown  road,  the  house  nearest  the  line, 
and  a  little  more  than  five  hundred  yards  in  the 
rear  of  what  became  the  center  of  the  position  of 
the  Second  Corps,  a  point  where  he  could  com 
municate  readily  and  rapidly  with  all  parts  of  the 
army.  The  advantages  of  the  position,  briefly, 
were  these:  the  flanks  were  quite  well  protected 
by  the  natural  defences  there,  Round  Top  up  the 
left,  and  a  rocky,  steep,  untraversable  ground  up 
the  right.  Our  line  was  more  elevated  than  that 
of  the  enemy,  consequently  our  artillery  had  a 

[29] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

greater  range  and  power  than  theirs.  On  account 
of  the  convexity  of  our  line,  every  part  of  the  line 
could  be  reinforced  by  troops  having  to  move  a 
shorter  distance  than  if  the  line  were  straight; 
further,  for  the  same  reason,  the  line  of  the  enemy 
must  be  concave,  and,  consequently,  longer,  and 
with  an  equal  force,  thinner,  and  so  weaker  than 
ours.  Upon  those  parts  of  our  line  which  were 
wooded,  neither  we  nor  the  enemy  could  use  ar 
tillery  ;  but  they  were  so  strong  by  nature,  aided 
by  art,  as  to  be  readily  defended  by  a  small, 
against  a  very  large,  body  of  infantry.  When  the 
line  was  open,  it  had  the  advantage  of  having  open 
country  in  front,  consequently,  the  enemy  here 
could  not  surprise,  as  we  were  on  a  crest,  which 
besides  the  other  advantages  that  I  have  men 
tioned,  had  this:  the  enemy  must  advance  to  the 
attack  up  an  ascent,  and  must  therefore  move 
slower,  and  be,  before  coming  upon  us,  longer  un 
der  our  fire,  as  well  as  more  exhausted.  These, 
and  some  other  things,  rendered  our  position  ad 
mirable — for  a  defensive  battle. 

So,  before  a  great  battle,  was  ranged  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.    The  day  wore  on,  the  weather 

[30] 


GETTYSBURG 

still  sultry,  and  the  sky  overcast,  with  a  mizzling 
effort  at  rain.  When  the  audience  has  all  assem 
bled,  time  seems  long  until  the  curtain  rises;  so 
to-day.  "Will  there  be  a  battle  to-day?"  "Shall 
we  attack  the  Rebel?"  "Will  he  attack  us?" 
These  and  similar  questions,  later  in  the  morning, 
were  thought  or  asked  a  million  times. 

Meanwhile,  on  our  part,  all  was  put  in  the  last 
state  of  readiness  for  battle.  Surgeons  were  busy 
riding  about  selecting  eligible  places  for  Hospi 
tals,  and  hunting  streams,  and  springs,  and  wells. 
Ambulances,  and  ambulance  men,  were  brought 
up  near  the  lines,  and  stretchers  gotten  ready  for 
use.  Who  ,of  us  could  tell  but  that  he  would  be 
the  first  to  need  them?  The  Provost  Guards  were 
busy  driving  up  all  stragglers,  and  causing  them  to 
join  their  regiments.  Ammunition  wagons  were 
driven  to  suitable  places,  and  pack  mules  bearing 
boxes  of  cartridges;  and  the  commands  were  in 
formed  where  they  might  be  found.  Officers  were 
sent  to  see  that  the  men  had  each  his  hundred 
rounds  of  ammunition.  Generals  and  their  Staffs 
were  riding  here  and  there  among  their  commands 

to  see  that  all  was  right.    A  staff  officer,  or  an  or- 

[31] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

derly  might  be  seen  galloping  furiously  in  the 
transmission  of  some  order  or  message. — All,  all 
was  ready — and  yet  the  sound  of  no  gun  had  dis 
turbed  the  air  or  ear  to-day. 

And  so  the  men  stacked  their  arms — in  long 
bristling  rows  they  stood  along  the  crests — and 
were  at  ease.  Some  men  of  the  Second  and  Third 
Corps  pulled  down  the  rail  fences  near  and  piled 
them  up  for  breastworks  in  their  front.  Some  loi 
tered,  some  went  to  sleep  upon  the  ground,  some, 
a  single  man,  carrying  twenty  canteens  slung  over 
his  shoulder,  went  for  water.  Some  made  them 
a  fire  and  boiled  a  dipper  of  coffee.  Some  with 
knees  cocked  up,  enjoyed  the  soldier's  peculiar 
solace,  a  pipe  of  tobacco.  Some  were  mirthful 
and  chatty,  and  some  were  serious  and  silent. 
Leaving  them  thus — I  suppose  of  all  arms  and 
grades  there  were  about  a  hundred  thousand  of 
them  somewhere  about  that  field — each  to  pass 
the  hour  according  to  his  duty  or  his  humor,  let  us 
look  to  the  enemy. 

Here  let  me  state  that  according  to  the  best  in 
formation  that  I  could  get,  I  think  a  fair  estimate 

of  the  Rebel  force  engaged  in  this  battle  would  be 

[32] 


GETTYSBURG 

a  little  upwards  of  a  hundred  thousand  men  of  all 
arms.  Of  course  we  can't  now  know,  but  there 
are  reasonable  data  for  this  estimate.  At  all 
events  there  was  no  great  disparity  of  numbers  In 
the  two  opposing  armies.  We  thought  the  enemy 
to  be  somewhat  more  numerous  than  we,  and  he 
probably  was.  But  if  ninety-five  men  should  fight 
with  a  hundred  and  five,  the  latter  would  not  al 
ways  be  victors — and  slight  numerical  differences 
are  of  much  less  consequence  in  great  bodies  of 
men. 

Skillful  generalship  and  good  fighting  are  the 
jewels  of  war.  These  concurring  are  difficult  to 
overcome;  and  these,  not  numbers,  must  deter 
mine  this  battle. 

During  all  the  morning — and  of  the  night, 
too — the  skirmishers  of  the  enemy  had  been  con 
fronting  those  of  the  Eleventh,  First  and  Twelfth 
Corps.  At  the  time  of  the  fight  of  the  First,  he 
was  seen  in  heavy  force  North  of  the  town — he 
was  believed  to  be  now  in  the  same  neighborhood, 
in  full  force.  But  from  the  woody  character  of 
the  country,  and  thereby  the  careful  concealment 
of  troops,  which  the  Rebel  is  always  sure  to  ef- 

•3  [33] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

feet,  during  the  early  part  of  the  morning  almost 
nothing  was  actually  seen  by  us  of  the  invaders  of 
the  North.  About  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I 
should  think,  our  glasses  began  to  reveal  them  at 
the  West  and  North-west  of  the  town,  a  mile  and 
a  half  away  from  our  lines.  They  were  moving 
towards  our  left,  but  the  woods  of  Seminary 
Ridge  so  concealed  them  that  we  could  not  make 
out  much  of  their  movements.  About  this  time 
some  rifled  guns  in  the  Cemetery,  at  the  left  of  the 
Eleventh  Corps,  opened  fire — almost  the  first  shots 
of  any  kind  this  morning — and  when  it  was  found 
they  were  firing  at  a  Rebel  line  of  skirmishers 
merely,  that  were  advancing  upon  the  left  of  that, 
and  the  right  of  the  Second  Corps,  the  officer  in 
charge  of  the  guns  was  ordered  to  cease  firing,  and 
was  rebuked  for  having  fired  at  all.  These  skir 
mishers  soon  engaged  those  at  the  right  of  the  Sec 
ond  Corps,  who  stood  their  ground  and  were  rein 
forced  to  make  the  line  entirely  secure.  The 
Rebel  skirmish  line  kept  extending  further  and 
further  to  their  right — toward  our  left.  They 
would  dash  up  close  upon  ours  and  sometimes 

drive  them  back  a  short  distance,  in  turn  to  be  re- 

[34] 


GETTYSBURG 

pulsed  themselves — and  so  they  continued  to  do 
until  their  right  was  opposite  the  extreme  left  of 
the  Third  Corps.  By  these  means  they  had  ascer 
tained  the  position  and  extent  of  our  lines — but 
their  own  masses  were  still  out  of  view.  From 
the  time  that  the  firing  commenced,  as  I  have 
mentioned,  it  was  kept  up,  among  the  skirmishers, 
until  quite  noon,  often  briskly;  but  with  no  defin 
ite  results  further  than  those  mentioned,  and  with 
no  considerable  show  of  infantry  on  the  part  of 
the  enemy  to  support.  There  was  a  farm  house 
and  outbuildings  in  front  of  the  Third  Division  of 
the  Second  Corps,  at  which  the  skirmishers  of  the 
enemy  had  made  a  dash,  and  dislodged  ours  posted 
there,  and  from  there  their  sharp  shooters  began 
to  annoy  our  line  of  skirmishers  and  even  the 
main  line,  with  their  long  range  rifles.  I  was  up 
to  the  line,  and  a  bullet  from  one  of  the  rascals  hid 
there,  hissed  by  my  cheek  so  close  that  I  felt  the 
movement  of  the  air  distinctly.  And  so  I  was  not 
at  all  displeased  when  I  saw  one  of  our  regiments 
go  down  and  attack  and  capture  the  house  and 
buildings  and  several  prisoners,  after  a  spirited  lit 
tle  fight,  and,  by  Gen.  Hays'  order,  burn  the 

[35] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

buildings  to  the  ground.  About  noon  the  Signal 
Corps,  from  the  top  of  Little  Round  Top,  with 
their  powerful  glasses,  and  the  cavalry  at  the  ex 
treme  left,  began  to  report  the  enemy  in  heavy 
force,  making  disposition  of  battle,  to  the  West 
of  Round  Top,  and  opposite  to  the  left  of  the 
Third  Corps.  Some  few  prisoners  had  been  cap 
tured,  some  deserters  from  the  enemy  had  come  in, 
and  from  all  sources,  by  this  time,  we  had  much 
important  and  reliable  information  of  the  enemy — 
of  his  disposition  and  apparent  purposes.  The 
Rebel  infantry  consisted  of  three  Army  Corps, 
each  consisting  of  three  Divisions,  Longstreet, 
Ewell — the  same  whose  leg  Gibbons'  shell 
knocked  off  at  Gainesville  on  the  28th  of  Au 
gust  last  year — and  A.  P.  Hill,  each  in  the  Rebel 
service  having  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  General, 
were  the  commanders  of  these  Corps.  Long- 
street's  Division  commanders  were  Hood,  Mc- 
Laws,  and  Pickett;  Ewell's  were  Rhodes,  Early 
and  Johnson,  and  Hill's  were  Pender,  Heth  and 
Anderson.  Stewart  and  Fitzhugh  Lee  com 
manded  Divisions  of  the  Rebel  cavalry.  The 

rank  of  these  Division  commands,  I  believe,  was 

[36] 


GETTYSBURG 

that  of  Major  General.  The  Rebels  had  about 
as  much  artillery  as  we  did ;  but  we  never  have 
thought  much  of  this  arm  in  the  hands  of  our  ad 
versaries.  They  have  courage  enough,  but  not  the 
skill  to  handle  it  well.  They  generally  fire  far  too 
high,  and  the  ammunition  is  usually  of  a  very  in 
ferior  quality.  And,  of  late,  we  have  begun  to 
despise  the  enemies'  cavalry  too.  It  used  to  have 
enterprise  and  dash,  but  in  the  late  cavalry  contests 
ours  have  always  been  victor;  and  so  now  we 
think  about  all  this  chivalry  is  fit  for  is  to  steal  a 
few  of  our  mules  occasionally,  and  their  negro 
drivers.  This  army  of  the  rebel  infantry,  how 
ever,  is  good — to  deny  this  is  useless.  I  never  had 
any  desire  to — and  if  one  should  count  up,  it 
would  possibly  be  found  that  they  have  gained 
more  victories  over  us,  than  we  have  over  them, 
and  they  will  now,  doubtless,  fight  well,  even  des 
perately.  And  it  is  not  horses  or  cannon  that  will 
determine  the  result  of  this  confronting  of  the  two 
armies,  but  the  men  with  the  muskets  must  do  it — 
the  infantry  must  do  the  sharp  work.  So  we 
watched  all  this  posting  of  forces  as  closely  as 
possible,  for  it  was  a  matter  of  vital  interest  to  us, 

[37] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

and  all  information  relating  to  it  was  hurried  to 
the  commander  of  the  army.  The  Rebel  line  of 
battle  was  concave,  bending  around  our  own,  with 
the  extremities  of  the  wings  opposite  to,  or  a  little 
outside  of  ours.  Longstreet's  Corps  was  upon 
their  right ;  Hill's  in  the  center.  These  two  Rebel 
Corps  occupied  the  second  or  inferior  ridge  to  the 
West  of  our  position,  as  I  have  mentioned,  with 
Hill's  left  bending  towards,  and  resting  near  the 
town,  and  Ewell's  was  upon  their  left,  his  troops 
being  in,  and  to  the  East  of  the  town.  This  last 
Corps  confronted  our  Twelfth,  First,  and  the  right 
of  the  Eleventh  Corps.  When  I  have  said  that 
ours  was  a  good  defensive  position,  this  is  equiva- 
lant  to  saying  that  that  of  the  enemy  was  not  a 
good  offensive  one;  for  these  are  relative  terms, 
and  cannot  be  both  predicated  of  the  respective 
positions  of  the  two  armies  at  the  same  time.  The 
reasons  that  this  was  not  a  good  offensive  position, 
are  the  same  already  stated  in  favor  of  ours  for  de 
fense.  Excepting,  occasionally,  for  a  brief  time, 
during  some  movement  of  troops,  as  when  advanc 
ing  to  attack,  their  men  and  guns  were  kept  con- 


[38] 


GETTYSBURG 

stantly  and  carefully,  by  woods  and  inequalities 
of  ground,  out  of  our  view. 

Noon  is  past,  one  o'clock  is  past,  and,  save  the 
skirmishing,  that  I  have  mentioned,  and  an  occa 
sional  shot  from  our  guns,  at  something  or  other, 
the  nature  of  which  the  ones  who  fired  it  were  ig 
norant,  there  was  no  fight  yet.  Our  arms  were 
still  stacked,  and  the  men  were  at  ease.  As  I 
looked  upon  those  interminable  rows  of  muskets 
along  the  crests,  and  saw  how  cool  and  good  spir 
ited  the  men  were,  who  were  lounging  about  on 
the  ground  among  them,  I  could  not,  and  did  not, 
have  any  fears  as  to  the  result  of  the  battle.  The 
storm  was  near,  and  we  all  knew  it  well  enough 
by  this  time,  which  was  to  rain  death  upon  these 
crests  and  down  their  slopes,  and  yet  the  men  who 
could  not,  and  would  not  escape  it,  were  as  calm 
and  cheerful,  generally,  as  if  nothing  unusual  were 
about  to  happen.  You  see,  these  men  were  veter 
ans,  and  had  been  in  such  places  so  often  that  they 
were  accustomed  to  them.  But  I  was  well  pleased 
with  the  tone  of  the  men  to-day — I  could  almost 
see  the  fore-shadowing  of  victory  upon  their  faces, 

I  thought.    And  I  thought,  too,  as  I  had  seen  the 

[39] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

mighty  preparations  go  on  to  completion  for  this 
great  conflict — the  marshaling  of  these  two  hun 
dred  thousand  men  and  the  guns  of  the  hosts,  that 
now  but  a  narrow  valley  divided,  that  to  have 
been  in  such  a  battle,  and  to  survive  on  the  side  of 
the  victors,  would  be  glorious.  Oh,  the  world  is 
most  unchristian  yet! 

Somewhat  after  one  o'clock  P.  M. — the  skir 
mish  firing  had  nearly  ceased  now — a  movement 
of  the  Third  Corps  occurred,  which  I  shall  de 
scribe.  I  cannot  conjecture  the  reason  of  this  move 
ment.  From  the  position  of  the  Third  Corps,  as 
I  have  mentioned,  to  the  second  ridge  West,  the 
distance  is  about  a  thousand  yards,  and  there  the 
Emmetsburg  road  runs  near  the  crest  of  the  ridge. 
Gen.  Sickles  commenced  to  advance  his  whole 
Corps,  from  the  general  line,  straight  to  the  front, 
with  a  view  to  occupy  this  second  ridge,  along, 
and  near  the  road.  What  his  purpose  could  have 
been  is  past  conjecture.  It  was  not  ordered  by 
Gen.  Meade,  as  I  heard  him  say,  and  he  disap 
proved  of  it  as  soon  as  it  was  made  known  to  him. 
Generals  Hancock  and  Gibbon,  as  they  saw  the 

move  in  progress,  criticized  its  propriety  sharply,  as 

[40] 


GETTYSBURG 

I  know,  and  foretold  quite  accurately  what  would 
be  the  result.  I  suppose  the  truth  probably  is  that 
General  Sickles  supposed  he  was  doing  for  the 
best ;  but  he  was  neither  born  nor  bred  a  soldier. 
But  one  can  scarcely  tell  what  may  have  been  the 
motives  of  such  a  man — a  politician,  and  some 
other  things,  exclusive  of  the  Barton  Key  affair — 
a  man  after  show  and  notoriety,  and  newspaper 
fame,  and  the  adulation  of  the  mob!  O,  there  is 
a  grave  responsibility  on  those  in  whose  hands  are 
the  lives  of  ten  thousand  men ;  and  on  those  who 
put  stars  upon  men's  shoulders,  too!  Bah!  I  kin 
dle  when  I  see  some  things  that  I  have  to  see.  But 
this  move  of  the  Third  Corps  was  an  important 
one — it  developed  the  battle — the  results  of  the 
move  to  the  Corps  itself  we  shall  see.  O,  if  this 
Corps  had  kept  its  strong  position  upon  the  crest, 
and  supported  by  the  rest  of  the  army,  had  waited 
for  the  attack  of  the  enemy ! 

It  was  magnificent  to  see  those  ten  or  twelve 
thousand  men — they  were  good  men — with  their 
batteries,  and  some  squadrons  of  cavalry  upon  the 
left  flank,  all  in  battle  order,  in  several  lines,  with 

flags  streaming,  sweep  steadily  down  the  slope, 

[41] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

across  the  valley,  and  up  the  next  ascent,  toward 
their  destined   position!     From   our  position  we 
could  see  it  all.    In  advance  Sickles  pushed  for 
ward  his   heavy  line  of   skirmishers,  who  drove 
back  those  of  the  enemy,  across  the  Emmetsburg 
road,  and  thus  cleared  the  way  for  the  main  body. 
The  Third  Corps  now  became  the  absorbing  ob 
ject  of  interest  of  all  eyes.     The  Second  Corps 
took  arms,  and  the  1  st  Division  of  this  Corps  was 
ordered  to  be  in  readiness  to  support  the  Third 
Corps,  should  circumstances  render  support  neces 
sary.    As  the  Third  Corps  was  the  extreme  left 
4)f  our  line,  as  it  advanced,  if  the  enemy  was  as 
sembling  to  the  West  of  Round  Top  with  a  view 
to  turn  our  left,  as  we  had  heard,  there  would  be 
nothing  between  the  left  flank  of  the  Corps  and 
the  enemy,  and  the  enemy  would  be  square  upon 
its  flank  by  the  time  it  had  attained  the  road.    So 
when  this  advance  line  came  near  the  Emmets- 
burg  road,  and  we  saw  the  squadrons  of  cavalry 
mentioned,  come  dashing  back  from  their  position 
as  flankers,  and  the  smoke  of  some  guns,  and  we 
heard  the  reports  away  to  Sickles  left,  anxiety  be 
came  an  element  in  our  interest  in  these  movements. 

[42] 


GETTYSBURG 

The  enemy  opened  slowly  at  first,  and  from  long 
range;  but  he  was  square  upon  Sickles'  left  flank. 
General  Caldwell  was  ordered  at  once  to  put  his 
Division — the  1st  of  the  Second  Corps,  as  men 
tioned — in  motion,  and  to  take  post  in  the  woods 
at  the  left  slope  of  Round  Top,  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  resist  the  enemy  should  he  attempt  to  come 
around  Sickles  left  and  gain  his  rear.  The  Divi 
sion  moved  as  ordered,  and  disappeared  from  view 
in  the  woods,  towards  the  point  indicated  at  be 
tween  two  and  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  the  re 
serve  brigade — the  First,  Col.  Heath  temporarily 
commanding — of  the  Second  Division,  was  there 
fore  moved  up  and  occupied  the  position  vacated 
by  the  Third  Division.  About  the  same  time  the 
Fifth  Corps  could  be  seen  marching  by  the  flank 
from  its  position  on  the  Baltimore  Pike,  and  in  the 
opening  of  the  woods  heading  for  the  same  local 
ity  where  the  1st  Division  of  the  Second  Corps 
had  gone.  The  Sixth  Corps  had  now  come  up 
and  was  halted  upon  the  Baltimore  Pike.  So  the 
plot  thickened.  As  the  enemy  opened  upon 
Sickles  with  his  batteries,  some  five  or  six  in  all, 

I  suppose,  firing  slowly,  Sickles  with  as  many  re- 

[43] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

plied,  and  with  much  more  spirit.  The  artillery 
fire  became  quite  animated,  soon;  but  the  enemy 
was  forced  to  withdraw  his  guns  farther  and 
farther  away,  and  ours  advanced  upon  him.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  cannonade  ceased  alto 
gether,  the  enemy  having  retired  out  of  range,  and 
Sickles,  having  temporarily  halted  his  command, 
pending  this,  moved  forward  again  to  the  position 
he  desired,  or  nearly  that.  It  was  now  about  five 
o'clock,  and  we  shall  soon  see  what  Sickles  gained 
by  his  move.  First  we  hear  more  artillery  firing 
upon  Sickles'  left — the  enemy  seems  to  be  open 
ing  again,  and  as  we  watch  the  Rebel  batteries 
seem  to  be  advancing  there.  The  cannonade  is 
soon  opened  again,  and  with  great  spirit  upon  both 
sides.  The  enemy's  batteries  press  those  of 
Sickles,  and  pound  the  shot  upon  them,  and  this 
time  they  in  turn  begin  to  retire  to  position  nearer 
the  infantry.  The  enemy  seem  to  be  fearfully  in 
earnest  this  time.  And  what  is  more  ominous  than 
the  thunder  or  the  shot  of  his  advancing  guns,  this 
time,  in  the  intervals  between  his  batteries,  far  to 
Sickles'  left,  appear  the  long  lines  and  the  col 
umns  of  the  Rebel  infantry,  now  unmistakably 

[44]  " 


GETTYSBURG 

moving  out  to  the  attack.  The  position  of  the 
Third  Corps  becomes  at  once  one  of  great  peril, 
and  it  is  probable  that  its  commander  by  this  time 
began  to  realize  his  true  situation.  All  was  astir 
now  on  our  crest.  Generals  and  their  Staffs  were 
galloping  hither  and  thither — the  men  were  all 
in  their  places,  and  you  might  have  heard  the  rat 
tle  of  ten  thousand  ramrods  as  they  drove  home 
and  "thugged"  upon  the  little  globes  and  cones  of 
lead.  As  the  enemy  was  advancing  upon  Sickles' 
flank,  he  commenced  a  change,  or  at  least  a  partial 
one,  of  front,  by  swinging  back  his  left  and  throw 
ing  forward  his  right,  in  order  that  his  lines  might 
be  parallel  to  those  of  his  adversary,  his  batteries 
meantime  doing  what  they  could  to  check  the 
enemy's  advance;  but  this  movement  was  not 
completely  executed  before  new  Rebel  batteries 
opened  upon  Sickles'  right  flank — his  former 
front — and  in  the  same  quarter  appeared  the 
Rebel  infantry  also.  Now  came  the  dreadful 
battle  picture,  of  which  we  for  a  time  could  be  but 
spectators.  Upon  the  front  and  right  flank  of 
Sickles  came  sweeping  the  infantry  of  Longstreet 
and  Hill.  Hitherto  there  had  been  skirmishing 

[45] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

and  artillery  practice — now  the  battle  began ;  for 
amid  the  heavier  smoke  and  larger  tongues  of 
flame  of  the  batteries,  now  began  to  appear  the 
countless  flashes,  and  the  long  fiery  sheets  of  the 
muskets,  and  the  rattle  of  the  volleys,  mingled 
with  the  thunder  of  the  guns.  We  see  the  long 
gray  lines  come  sweeping  down  upon  Sickles' 
front,  and  mix  with  the  battle  smoke;  now  the 
same  colors  emerge  from  the  bushes  and  orchards 
upon  his  right,  and  envelope  his  flank  in  the  coa- 
fusion  of  the  conflict. 

O,  the  din  and  the  roar,  and  these  thirty  thou 
sand  Rebel  wolf  cries !  What  a  hell  is  there  down 
that  valley! 

These  ten  or  twelve  thousand  men  of  the  Third 
Corps  fight  well,  but  it  soon  becomes  apparent  that 
they  must  be  swept  from  the  field,  or  perish  there 
where  they  are  doing  so  well,  so  thick  and  over 
whelming  a  storm  of  Rebel  fire  involves  them.  It 
was  fearful  to  see,  but  these  men,  such  as  ever  es 
cape,  must  come  from  that  conflict  as  best  they  can. 
To  move  down  and  support  them  with  other 
troops  is  out  of  the  question,  for  this  would  be  to 

do  as  Sickles  did,  to  relinquish  a  good  position, 

[46] 


GETTYSBURG 

and  advance  to  a  bad  one.  There  is  no  other  al 
ternative — the  Third  Corps  must  fight  itself  out 
of  its  position  of  destruction!  What  was  it  ever 
put  there  for? 

In  the  meantime  some  other  dispositions  must 
be  made  to  meet  the  enemy,  in  the  event  that 
Sickles  is  overpowered.  With  this  Corps  out  of 
the  way,  the  enemy  would  be  in  a  position  to  ad 
vance  upon  the  line  of  the  Second  Corps,  not  in  a 
line  parallel  with  its  front,  but  they  would  come 
obliquely  from  the  left.  To  meet  this  contingency 
the  left  of  the  Second  Division  of  the  Second 
Corps  is  thrown  back  slightly,  and  two  Regiments, 
the  1 5th  Mass.,  Col.  Ward,  and  the  82nd  N.  Y., 
Lieut.  Col.  Horton,  are  advanced  down  to  the 
Emmetsburg  road,  to  a  favorable  position  nearer 
us  than  the  fight  has  yet  come,  and  some  new  bat 
teries  from  the  artillery  reserve  are  posted  upon 
the  crest  near  the  left  of  the  Second  Corps.  This 
was  all  Gen.  Gibbon  could  do.  Other  disposi 
tions  were  made  or  were  now  being  made  upon 
the  field,  which  I  shall  mention  presently.  The 
enemy  is  still  giving  Sickles  fierce  battle — or 

rather  the  Third  Corps,  for  Sickles  has  been  borne 

[47] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

from  the  field  minus  one  of  his  legs,  and  Gen.  Bir- 
ney  now  commands — and  we  of  the  Second 
Corps,  a  thousand  yards  away,  with  our  guns  and 
men  are,  and  must  be,  still  idle  spectators  of  the 
fight. 

The  Rebel,  as  anticipated,  tries  to  gain  the  left 
of  the  Third  Corps,  and  for  this  purpose  is  now 
moving  into  the  woods  at  the  west  of  Round  Top. 
We  knew  what  he  would  find  there.  No  sooner 
had  the  enemy  gotten  a  considerable  force  into  the 
woods  mentioned,  in  the  attempted  execution  of 
his  purpose,  than  the  roar  of  the  conflict  was  heard 
there  also.  The  Fifth  Corps  and  the  First  Divi 
sion  of  the  Second  were  there  at  the  right  time, 
and  promptly  engaged  him;  and  there,  too,  the 
battle  soon  became  general  and  obstinate.  Now 
the  roar  of  battle  has  become  twice  the  volume 
that  it  was  before,  and  its  range  extends  over  more 
than  twice  the  space.  The  Third  Corps  has  been 
pressed  back  considerably,  and  the  wounded  are 
streaming  to  the  rear  by  hundreds,  but  still  the  bat 
tle  there  goes  on,  with  no  considerable  abatement 
on  our  part.  The  field  of  actual  conflict  extends 

now  from  a  point  to  the  front  of  the  left  of  the 

[48] 


GETTYSBURG 

Second  Corps,  away  down  to  the  front  of  Round 
Top,  and  the  fight  rages  with  the  greatest  fury. 
The  fire  of  artillery  and  infantry  and  the  yells  of 
the  Rebels  fill  the  air  with  a  mixture  of  hideous 
sounds.  When  the  First  Division  of  the  Second 
Corps  first  engaged  the  enemy,  for  a  time  it  was 
pressed  back  somewhat,  but  under  the  able  and 
judicious  management  of  Gen.  Caldwell,  and  the 
support  of  the  Fifth  Corps,  it  speedily  ceased  io 
retrograde,  and  stood  its  ground;  and  then  there 
followed  a  time,  after  the  Fifth  Corps  became 
well  engaged,  when  from  appearances  we  hoped 
the  troops  already  engaged  would  be  able  to 
check  entirely,  or  repulse  the  further  assault  of  the 
enemy.  But  fresh  bodies  of  the  Rebels  continued 
to  advance  out  of  the  woods  to  the  front  of  the 
position  of  the  Third  Corps,  and  to  swell  the  num 
bers  of  the  assailants  of  this  already  hard  pressed 
command.  The  men  there  begin  to  show  signs  of 
exhaustion — their  ammunition  must  be  nearly  ex 
pended — they  have  now  been  fighting  more  than 
an  hour,  and  against  greatly  superior  numbers. 
From  the  sound  of  the  firing  at  the  extreme  left, 
and  the  place  where  the  smoke  rises  above  the  tree 

[49] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

tops  there,  we  know  that  the  Fifth  Corps  is  still 
steady,  and  holding  its  own  there;  and  as  we  see 
the  Sixth  Corps  now  marching  and  near  at  hand 
to  that  point,  we  have  no  fears  for  the  left — we 
have  more  apparent  reason  to  fear  for  ourselves. 

The  Third  Corps  is  being  overpowered — 
here  and  there  its  lines  begin  to  break — the  men 
begin  to  pour  back  to  the  rear  in  confusion — the 
enemy  are  close  upon  them  and  among  them — 
organization  is  lost  to  a  great  degree — guns  and 
caissons  are  abandoned  and  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy — the  Third  Corps,  after  a  heroic  but  un 
fortunate  fight,  is  being  literally  swept  from  the 
field.  That  Corps  gone,  what  is  there  between  the 
Second  Corps,  and  these  yelling  masses  of  the 
enemy?  Do  you  not  think  that  by  this  time  we 
began  to  feel  a  personal  interest  in  this  fight?  We 
did  indeed.  We  had  been  mere  observers — the 
time  was  at  hand  when  we  must  be  actors  in  this 
drama. 

Up  to  this  hour  Gen.  Gibbon  had  been  in  com 
mand  of  the  Second  Corps,  since  yesterday,  but 
Gen.  Hancock,  relieved  of  his  duties  elsewhere, 

now  assumed  command.    Five  or  six  hundred 

[50] 


GETTYSBURG 

yards  away  the  Third  Corps  was  making  its  last 
opposition ;  and  the  enemy  was  hotly  pressing  his 
advantages  there,  and  throwing  in  fresh  troops 
whose  line  extended  still  more  along  our  front, 
when  Generals  Hancock  and  Gibbon  rode  along 
the  lines  of  their  troops;  and  at  once  cheer  after 
cheer — not  Rebel,  mongrel  cries,  but  genuine 
cheers — rang  out  all  along  the  line,  above  the  roar 
of  battle,  for  "Hancock"  and  "Gibbon,"  and  "our 
Generals."  These  were  good.  Had  you  heard 
their  voices,  you  would  have  known  these  men 
would  fight.  Just  at  this  time  we  saw  another 
thing  that  made  us  glad: — we  looked  to  our  rear, 
and  there,  and  all  up  the  hillside  which  was  the 
rear  of  the  Third  Corps  before  it  went  forward, 
were  rapidly  advancing  large  bodies  of  men  from 
the  extreme  right  of  our  line  of  battle,  coming  to 
the  support  of  the  part  now  so  hotly  pressed. 
There  was  the  whole  Twelfth  Corps,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  about  one  brigade,  that  is,  the  larger 
portion  of  the  Divisions  of  Gens.  Williams  and 
Geary;  the  Third  Division  of  the  First  Corps, 
Gen.  Doubleday;  and  some  other  brigades  from 

the  same  Corps — and  some  of  them  were  moving 

[51] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

at  the  double  quick.  They  formed  lines  of  battle 
at  the  foot  of  the  Taneytown  road,  and  when  the 
broken  fragments  of  the  Third  Corps  were  swarm 
ing  by  them  towards  the  rear,  without  halting  or 
wavering  they  came  sweeping  up,  and  with  glor 
ious  old  cheers,  under  fire,  took  their  places  on  the 
crest  in  line  of  battle  to  the  left  of  the  Second 
Corps.  Now  Sickles'  blunder  is  repaired.  Now, 
Rebel  chief,  hurl  forward  your  howling  lines  and 
columns!  Yell  out  your  loudest  and  your  last,  for 
many  of  your  best  will  never  yell,  or  wave  the 
spurious  flag  again! 

The  battle  still  rages  all  along  the  left,  where 
the  Fifth  Corps  is,  and  the  West  slope  of  Round 
Top  is  the  scene  of  the  conflict;  and  nearer  us 
there  was  but  short  abatement,  as  the  last  of  the 
Third  Corps  retired  from  the  field,  for  the  enemy 
is  flushed  with  his  success.  He  has  been  throw 
ing  forward  brigade  after  brigade,  and  Division 
after  Division,  since  the  battle  began,  and  his 
advancing  line  now  extends  almost  as  far  to 
our  right  as  the  right  of  the  Second  Division 
of  the  Second  Corps.  The  whole  slope  in  our 

front   is   full   of  them;    and  in   various   forma- 

[52] 


GETTYSBURG 

tion,  in  line,  in  column,  and  in  masses  which 
are  neither,  with  yells  and  thick  volleys,  they 
are  rushing  towards  our  crest.  The  Third  Corps 
is  out  of  the  way.  Now  we  are  in  for  it. 
The  battery  men  are  ready  by  their  loaded  guns. 
All  along  the  crest  is  ready.  Now  Arnold  and 
Brown — now  Gushing,  and  Woodruff,  and 
Rhorty! — you  three  shall  survive  to-day!  They 
drew  the  cords  that  moved  the  friction  primers, 
and  gun  after  gun,  along  the  batteries,  in  rapid 
succession,  leaped  where  it  stood  and  bellowed  its 
canister  upon  the  enemy.  The  enemy  still  ad 
vance.  The  infantry  open  fire — first  the  two  ad 
vance  regiments,  the  1 5th  Mass,  and  the  82d 
N.  Y. — then  here  and  there  throughout  the  length 
of  the  long  line,  at  the  points  where  the  enemy 
comes  nearest,  and  soon  the  whole  crest,  artillery 
and  infantry,  is  one  continued  sheet  of  fire.  From 
Round  Top  to  near  the  Cemetery  stretches  an  un 
interrupted  field  of  conflict.  There  is  a  great  army 
upon  each  side,  now  hotly  engaged. 

To  see  the  fight,  while  it  went  on  in  the  valley 
below  us,   was  terrible, — what  must  it  be  now, 

[53] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

when  we  are  in  it,  and  it  is  all  around  us,  in  all  its 
fury? 

All  senses  for  the  time  are  dead  but  the  one  of 
sight.  The  roar  of  the  discharges  and  the  yells  of 
the  enemy  all  pass  unheeded ;  but  the  impassioned 
soul  is  all  eyes,  and  sees  all  things,  that  the  smoke 
does  not  hide.  How  madly  the  battery  men  are 
driving  home  the  double  charges  of  canister  in 
those  broad-mouthed  Napoleons,  whose  fire  seems 
almost  to  reach  the  enemy.  How  rapidly  these 
long,  blue-coated  lines  of  infantry  deliver  their 
file  fire  down  the  slope. 

But  there  is  no  faltering — the  men  stand  nobly 
to  their  work.  Men  are  dropping  dead  or 
wounded  on  all  sides,  by  scores  and  by  hundreds, 
and  the  poor  mutilated  creatures,  some  with  an 
arm  dangling,  some  with  a  leg  broken  by  a  bullet, 
are  limping  and  crawling  towards  the  rear.  They 
make  no  sound  of  complaint  or  pain,  but  are  as 
silent  as  if  dumb  and  mute.  A  sublime  heroism 
seems  to  pervade  all,  and  the  intuition  that  to  lose 
that  crest,  all  is  lost.  How  our  officers,  in  the  work 
of  cheering  on  and  directing  the  men,  are  falling. 

We  have  heard  that  Gen.   Zook  and  Col. 

[54] 


GETTYSBURG 

Cross,  in  the  First  Division  of  our  Corps,  are  mor 
tally  wounded — they  both  commanded  bri 
gades, — now  near  us  Col.  Ward  of  the  15th 
Mass. — he  lost  a  leg  at  Balls  Bluff — and  Lieut. 
Col.  Horton  of  the  82d  N.  Y.,  are  mortally 
struck  while  trying  to  hold  their  commands,  which 
are  being  forced  back;  Col.  Revere,  20th  Mass., 
grandson  of  old  Paul  Revere,  of  the  Revolution, 
is  killed,  Lieut.  Col.  Max  Thoman,  commanding 
59th  N.  Y.,  is  mortally  wounded,  and  a  host  of 
others  that  I  cannot  name.  These  were  of  Gib 
bon's  Division.  Lieut.  Brown  is  wounded  among 
his  guns — his  position  is  a  hundred  yards  in  ad 
vance  of  the  main  line — the  enemy  is  upon  his 
battery,  and  he  escapes,  but  leaves  three  of  his  six 
guns  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

The  fire  all  along  our  crest  is  terrific,  and  it  is  a 
wonder  how  anything  human  could  have  stood 
before  it,  and  yet  the  madness  of  the  enemy  drove 
them  on,  clear  up  to  the  muzzle  of  the  guns,  clear 
up  to  the  lines  of  our  infantry — but  the  lines  stood 
right  in  their  places.  Gen.  Hancock  and  his  Aides 
rode  up  to  Gibbon's  Division,  under  the  smoke. 

Gen.  Gibbon,  with  myself,  was  near,  and  there 

[55] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

was  a  flag  dimly  visible,  coming  towards  us  from 
the  direction  of  the  enemy.  "Here,  what  are  these 
men  falling  back  for?"  said  Hancock.  The  flag 
was  no  more  than  fifty  yards  away,  but  it  was  the 
head  of  a  Rebel  column,  which  at  once  opened 
fire  with  a  volley.  Lieut.  Miller,  Gen.  Hancock's 
Aide,  fell,  twice  struck,  but  the  General  was  un 
harmed,  and  he  told  the  1st  Minn.,  which  was 
near,  to  drive  these  people  away.  That  splendid 
regiment,  the  less  than  three  hundred  that  are  left 
out  of  fifteen  hundred  that  it  has  had,  swings 
around  upon  the  enemy,  gives  them  a  volley  in 
their  faces,  and  advances  upon  them  with  the  bay 
onet.  The  Rebels  fled  in  confusion,  but  Col.  Col- 
ville,  Lieut.  Col.  Adams  and  Major  Downie,  are 
all  badly,  dangerously  wounded,  and  many  of  the 
other  officers  and  men  will  never  fight  again. 
More  than  two-thirds  fell. 

Such  fighting  as  this  cannot  last  long.  It  is  now 
near  sundown,  and  the  battle  has  gone  on  wonder 
fully  long  already.  But  if  you  will  stop  to  notice 
it,  a  change  has  occurred.  The  Rebel  cry  has 
ceased,  and  the  men  of  the  Union  begin  to  shout 

there,  under  the  smoke,  and  their  lines  to  advance. 

[56] 


GETTYSBURG 

See,  the  Rebels  are  breaking!  They  are  in  con 
fusion  in  all  our  front!  The  wave  has  rolled  upon 
the  rock,  and  the  rock  has  smashed  it.  Let  us 
shout,  too ! 

First  upon  their  extreme  left  the  Rebels  broke, 
where  they  had  almost  pierced  our  lines;  thence 
the  repulse  extended  rapidly  to  their  right.  They 
hung  longest  about  Round  Top,  where  the  Fifth 
Corps  punished  them,  but  in  a  space  of  time  in 
credibly  short,  after  they  first  gave  signs  of  weak 
ness,  the  whole  force  of  the  Rebel  assault  along 
the  whole  line,  in  spite  of  waving  red  flags,  and 
yells,  and  the  entreaties  of  officers,  and  the  prid< 
of  the  chivalry,  fled  like  chaff  before  the  whirl 
wind,  back  down  the  slope,  over  the  valley,  across 
the  Emmetsburg  road,  shattered,  without  organi 
zation  in  utter  confusion,  fugitive  into  the  woods, 
and  victory  was  with  the  arms  of  the  Republic. 
The  great  Rebel  assault,  the  greatest  ever  made 
upon  this  continent,  has  been  made  and  signally 
repulsed,  and  upon  this  part  of  the  field  the  fight 
of  to-day  is  now  soon  over.  Pursuit  was  made  as 
rapidly  and  as  far  as  practicable,  but  owing  to  the 

proximity  of  night,  and  the  long  distance  which 

[57] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

would  have  to  be  gone  over  before  any  of  the 
enemy,  where  they  would  be  likely  to  halt,  could 
be  overtaken,  further  success  was  not  attainable 
to-day.  Where  the  Rebel  rout  first  comr  ^ed, 
a  large  number  of  prisoners,  some  thous  ~.nds  at 
least,  were  captured;  almost  all  their  deac!;  and 
such  of  their  wounded  as  could  not  themsel'  -s  get 
to  the  rear,  were  within  our  lines ;  several  of  their 
flags  were  gathered  up,  and  a  good  many  thou 
sand  muskets,  some  nine  or  ten  guns  and  some  cais 
sons  lost  by  the  Third  Corps,  and  the  three  of 
Brown's  battery — these  last  were  in  Rebel  hands 
but  a  few  minutes — were  all  safe  now  with  us, 
the  enemy  having  had  no  time  to  take  them  off. 

Not  less,  I  estimate,  than  twenty  thousand  men 
were  killed  or  wounded  in  this  fight.  Our  own 
losses  must  have  been  nearly  half  this  number, — 
about  four  thousand  in  the  Third  Corps,  fully  two 
thousand  in  the  Second,  and  I  think  two  thousand 
in  the  Fifth,  and  I  think  the  losses  of  the  First, 
Twelfth,  and  a  little  more  than  a  brigade  of  the 
Sixth — all  of  that  Corps  which  was  actually  en 
gaged — would  reach  nearly  two  thousand  more. 

Of  course  it  will  never  be  possible  to  know  the 

[58] 


Battle  of  Gettysburg— Final  attack,  July  2 
(Compiled  by  C.  E.  Estabrook) 


GETTYSBURG 

numbers  upon  either  side  who  fell  in  this  particu 
lar  part  of  the  general  battle,  but  from  the  position 
of  the  enemy  and  his  numbers,  and  the  appearance 
of  the  field,  his  loss  must  have  been  as  heavy,  or 
as  I  think  much  heavier  than  our  own,  and  my  es 
timates  are  probably  short  of  the  actual  loss. 

The  fight  done,  the  sudden  revulsions  of  sense 
and  feeling  follow,  which  more  or  less  character 
ize  all  similar  occasions.  How  strange  the  still 
ness  seems!  The  whole  air  roared  with  the 
conflict  but  a  moment  since — now  all  is  silent; 
not  a  gunshot  sound  is  heard,  and  the  silence  comes 
distinctly,  almost  painfully  to  the  senses.  And 
the  sun  purples  the  clouds  in  the  West,  and  the 
sultry  evening  steals  on  as  if  there  had  been  no 
battle,  and  the  furious  shout  and  the  cannon's  roar 
had  never  shaken  the  earth.  And  how  look  these 
fields?  We  may  see  them  before  dark — the 
ripening  grain,  the  luxuriant  corn,  the  orchards, 
the  grassy  meadows,  and  in  their  midst  the  rural 
cottage  of  brick  or  wood.  They  were  beautiful 
this  morning.  They  are  desolate  now — trampled 
by  the  countless  feet  of  the  combatants,  plowed 

and  scored  by   the   shot  and   shell,  the  orchards 

[  59  1 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

splintered,  the  fences  prostrate,  the  harvest  trod 
den  in  the  mud.  And  more  dreadful  than  the 
sight  of  all  this,  thickly  strewn  over  all  their  length 
and  breadth,  are  the  habiliments  of  the  soldiers, 
the  knapsacks  cast  aside  in  the  stress  of  the  fight, 
or  after  the  fatal  lead  had  struck;  haversacks, 
yawning  with  the  rations  the  owner  will  never  call 
for ;  canteens  of  cedar  of  the  Rebel  men  of  Jack 
son,  and  of  cloth-covered  tin  of  the  men  of  the 
Union ;  blankets  and  trowsers,  and  coats  and  caps, 
and  some  are  blue  and  some  are  gray ;  muskets  and 
ramrods,  and  bayonets,  and  swords,  and  scabbards 
and  belts,  some  bent  and  cut  by  the  shot  or  shell ; 
broken  wheels,  exploded  caissons,  and  limber- 
boxes,  and  dismantled  guns,  and  all  these  are 
sprinkled  with  blood;  horses,  some  dead,  a  man 
gled  heap  of  carnage,  some  alive,  with  a  leg  shot 
clear  off,  or  other  frightful  wounds,  appealing  to 
you  with  almost  more  than  brute  gaze  as  you  pass ; 
and  last,  but  not  least  numerous,  many  thousands 
of  men — and  there  was  no  rebellion  here  now — 
the  men  of  South  Carolina  were  quiet  by  the  side 
of  those  of  Massachusetts,  some  composed,  with 

upturned  faces,  sleeping  the  last  sleep,  some  muti- 

[60] 


GETTYSBURG 

lated  and  frightful,  some  wretched,  fallen,  bathed 
in  blood,  survivors  still  and  unwilling  witnesses  of 
the  rage  of  Gettysburg. 

And  yet  with  all  this  before  them,  as  darkness 
came  on,  and  the  dispositions  were  made  and  the 
outposts  thrown  out  for  the  night,  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  was  quite  mad  with  joy.  No  more  light- 
hearted  guests  ever  graced  a  banquet,  than  were 
these  men  as  they  boiled  their  coffee  and  munched 
their  soldiers'  supper  to-night.  Is  it  strange? 

Otherwise  they  would  not  have  been  soldiers. 
And  such  sights  as  all  these  will  be  certain  to  be 
seen  as  long  as  war  lasts  in  the  world,  and  when 
war  is  done,  then  is  the  end  and  the  days  of  the 
millenium  are  at  hand. 

The  ambulances  commenced  their  work  as  soon 
as  the  battle  opened — the  twinkling  lanterns 
through  the  night,  and  the  sun  of  to-morrow  saw 
them  still  with  the  same  work  unfinished. 

I  wish  that  I  could  write,  that  with  the  coming 
on  of  darkness,  ended  the  fight  of  to-day,  but  such 
was  not  the  case.  The  armies  have  fought  enough 
to-day,  and  ought  to  sleep  to-night,  one  would 

think,  but  not  so  thought  the  Rebel.    Let  us  see 

[6x] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

what  he  gained  by  his  opinion.  When  the  troops, 
including  those  of  the  Twelfth  Corps  had  been 
withdrawn  from  the  extreme  right  of  our  line,  in 
the  afternoon,  to  support  the  left,  as  I  have  men 
tioned,  thereby,  of  course,  weakening  that  part  of 
the  line  so  left,  the  Rebel  Ewell,  either  becoming 
aware  of  the  fact,  or  because  he  thought  he  could 
carry  our  right  at  all  events,  late  in  the  afternoon 
commenced  an  assault  upon  that  part  of  our  line. 
His  battle  had  been  going  on  there  simultaneously 
with  the  fight  on  the  left,  but  not  with  any  great 
degree  of  obstinacy  on  his  part.  He  had  ad 
vanced  his  men  through  the  woods,  and  in  front 
of  the  formidable  position  lately  held  by  the 
Twelfth  Corps  cautiously,  and  to  his  surprise,  I 
have  no  doubt,  found  our  strong  defenses  upon  the 
extreme  right,  entirely  abandoned.  These  he  at 
once  took  possession  of,  and  simultaneously  made 
an  attack  upon  our  right  flank,  which  was  now 
near  the  summit  of  Gulp's  hill,  and  upon  the  front 
of  that  part  of  the  line.  That  small  portion  of  the 
Twelfth  Corps,  which  had  been  left  there,  and 
some  of  the  Eleventh  Corps,  sent  to  their  assist 
ance,  did  what  they  could  to  check  the  Rebels; 

[62] 


GETTYSBURG 

but  the  Eleventh  Corps  men  were  getting  shot  at 
there,  and  they  did  not  want  to  stay.  Matters  be 
gan  to  have  a  bad  look  in  that  part  of  the  field.  A 
portion  of  the  First  Division  of  the  First  Corps, 
was  sent  there  for  support — the  6th  Wisconsin, 
among  others,  and  this  improved  matters — but 
still,  as  we  had  but  a  small  number  of  men  there, 
all  told,  the  enemy  with  their  great  numbers,  were 
having  too  much  prospect  of  success,  and  it  seems 
that,  probably  emboldened  by  this,  Ewell  had  re 
solved  upon  a  night  attack  upon  that  wing  of  the 
army,  and  was  making  his  dispositions  accord 
ingly.  The  enemy  had  not  at  sundown,  actually 
carried  any  part  of  our  rifle  pits  there,  save  the  ones 
abandoned,  but  he  was  getting  troops  assembled 
upon  our  flank,  and  altogether,  with  our  weak 
ness  there,  at  that  time,  matters  did  not  look  as  we 
would  like  to  have  them.  Such  was  then  the  pos 
ture  of  affairs,  when  the  fight  upon  our  left,  that  I 
have  described,  was  done.  Under  such  circum 
stances  it  is  not  strange  that  the  Twelfth  Corps,  as 
soon  as  its  work  was  done  upon  the  left,  was 
quickly  ordered  back  to  the  right,  to  its  old  posi 
tion.  There  it  arrived  in  good  time;  not  soon 

[63] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

enough,  of  course,  to  avoid  the  mortification  of 
finding  the  enemy  in  the  possession  of  a  part  of  the 
works  the  men  had  labored  so  hard  to  construct, 
but  in  ample  time  before  dark  to  put  the  men  well 
in  the  pits  we  already  held,  and  to  take  up  a  strong 
defensible  position,  at  right  angles  to,  and  in  rear 
of  the  main  line,  in  order  to  resist  these  flanking 
dispositions  of  the  enemy.  The  army  was  secure 
again.  The  men  in  the  works  would  be  steady 
against  all  attacks  in  front,  as  long  as  they  knew 
that  their  flank  was  safe.  Until  between  ten  and 
eleven  o'clock  at  night,  the  woods  upon  the  right, 
resounded  with  the  discharges  of  musketry. 
Shortly  after  or  about  dark,  the  enemy  made  a 
dash  upon  the  right  of  the  Eleventh  Corps.  They 
crept  up  the  windings  of  a  valley,  not  in  a  very 
heavy  force,  but  from  the  peculiar  mode  in  which 
this  Corps  does  outpost  duty,  quite  unperceived  in 
the  dark  until  they  were  close  upon  the  main  line. 
It  is  said,  I  do  not  know  it  to  be  true,  that  they 
spiked  two  guns  of  one  of  the  Eleventh  Corps' 
batteries,  and  that  the  battery  men  had  to  drive 
them  off  with  their  sabres  and  rammers,  and  that 
there  was  some  fearful  "Dutch"  swearing  on  the 

[64] 


GETTYSBURG 

occasion,  "donner  wetter"  among  other  similar  im 
pious  oaths,  having  been  freely  used.  The  enemy 
here  were  finally  repulsed  by  the  assistance  of 
Col.  Correll's  brigade  of  the  Third  Division  of 
the  Second  Corps,  and  the  106th  Pa.,  from  the 
Second  Division  of  the  same  Corps,  was  by 
Gen.  Howard's  request  sent  there  to  do  outpost 
duty.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  matter  of  utter  mad 
ness  and  folly  on  the  part  of  the  enemy  to  have 
continued  their  night  attack,  as  they  did  upon  the 
right.  Our  men  were  securely  covered  by  ample 
works  and  even  in  most  places  a  log  was  placed  a 
few  inches  above  the  top  of  the  main  breastwork, 
as  a  protection  to  the  heads  of  the  men  as  they 
thrust  out  their  pieces  beneath  it  to  fire.  Yet  in  the 
darkness  the  enemy  would  rush  up,  clambering 
over  rocks  and  among  trees,  even  to  the  front  of 
the  works,  but  only  to  leave  their  riddled  bodies 
there  upon  the  ground  or  to  be  swiftly  repulsed 
headlong  into  the  woods  again.  In  the  darkness 
the  enemy  would  climb  trees  close  to  the  works, 
and  endeavor  to  shoot  our  men  by  the  light  of  the 
flashes.  When  discovered,  a  thousand  bullets 
would  whistle  after  them  in  the  dark,  and  some 

[65] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

would  hit,  and  then  the  Rebel  would  make  up  his 
mind  to  come  down. 

Our  loss  was  light,  almost  nothing  in  this 
fight  —  the  next  morning  the  enemy's  dead  were 
thick  all  along  this  part  of  the  line.  Near  eleven 
o'clock  the  enemy,  wearied  with  his  disastrous 
work,  desisted,  and  thereafter  until  morning,  not  a 
shot  was  heard  in  all  the  armies. 

So  much  for  the  battle.  There  is  another  thing 
that  I  wish  to  mention,  of  the  matters  of  the  2d  of 

July. 

After  evening  came  on,  and  from  reports  re 
ceived,  all  was  known  to  be  going  satisfactor 
ily  upon  the  right,  Gen.  Meade  summoned  his 
Corps  Commanders  to  his  Headquarters  for  con 
sultation.  A  consultation  is  held  upon  matters  of 
vast  moment  to  the  country,  and  that  poor  little 
farm-house  is  honored  with  more  distinguished 
guests  than  it  ever  had  before,  or  than  it  will  ever 
have  again,  probably. 

Do  you  expect  to  see  a  degree  of  ceremony,  and 
severe  military  aspect  characterize  this  meeting,  in 
accordance  with  strict  military  rules,  and  commen 
surate  with  the  moment  of  the  matters  of  their  de- 

[66] 


GETTYSBURG 

liberation?  Name  it  "Major  General  Meade, 
Commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  with 
his  Corps  Generals,  holding  a  Council  of  War, 
upon  the  field  of  Gettysburg,"  and  it  would  sound 
pretty  well,  —  and  that  was  what  it  was;  and  you 
might  make  a  picture  of  it  and  hang  it  up  by  the 
side  of  "Napoleon  and  his  Marshals,"  and 
"Washington  and  his  Generals,"  maybe,  at  some 
future  time.  But  for  the  artist  to  draw  his  picture 
from,  I  will  tell  how  this  council  appeared. 
Meade,  Sedgwick,  Slocum,  Howard,  Hancock, 
Sykes,  Newton,  Pleasanton  —  commander  of  the 
cavalry — and  Gibbon,  were  the  Generals  pres 
ent.  Hancock,  now  that  Sickles  is  wounded,  has 
charge  of  the  Third  Corps,  and  Gibbon  again  has 
the  Second.  Meade  is  a  tall  spare  man,  with  full 
beard,  which  with  his  hair,  originally  brown,  is 
quite  thickly  sprinkled  with  gray-  has  a  Ro- 
manish  face,  very  large  nose,  and  a  white,  large 
forehead,  prominent  and  wide  over  the  eyes, 
which  are  full  and  large,  and  quick  in  their  move 
ments,  and  he  wears  spectacles.  His  fibres  are 
all  of  the  long  and  sinewy  kind.  His  habitual 
personal  appearance  is  quite  careless,  and  it  would 

[67] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

be  rather  difficult  to  make  him  look  well  dressed. 
Sedgwick  is  quite  a  heavy  man,  short,  thick-set 
and  muscular,  with  florid  complexion,  dark,  calm, 
straight-looking  eyes,  with  full,  heavyish  features, 
which,  with  his  eyes,  have  plenty  of  animation 
when  he  is  aroused.  He  has  a  magnificent  pro 
file,  well  cut,  with  the  nose  and  forehead  forming 
almost  a  straight  line,  curly,  short,  chestnut  hair 
and  full  beard,  cut  short,  with  a  little  gray  in  it. 
He  dresses  carelessly,  but  can  look  magnificently 
when  he  is  well  dressed.  Like  Meade,  he  looks 
and  is,  honest  and  modest.  You  might  see  at 
once,  why  his  men,  because  they  love  him,  call 
him  "Uncle  John,"  not  to  his  face,  of  course,  but 
among  themselves.  Slocum  is  small,  rather 
spare,  with  black,  straight  hair  and  beard,  which 
latter  is  unshaven  and  thin,  large,  full,  quick, 
black  eyes,  white  skin,  sharp  nose,  wide  cheek 
bones,  and  hollow  cheeks  and  small  chin.  His 
movements  are  quick  and  angular,  and  he  dresses 
with  a  sufficient  degree  of  elegance.  Howard  is 
medium  in  size,  has  nothing  marked  about  him,  is 
the  youngest  of  them  all,  I  think  —  has  lost  an  arm 
in  the  war,  has  straight  brown  hair  and  beard, 

[68] 


GETTYSBURG 

shaves  his  short  upper  lip,  over  which  his  nose 
slants  down,  dim  blue  eyes,  and  on  the  whole,  ap 
pears  a  very  pleasant,  affable,  well  dressed  little 
gentleman.  Hancock  is  the  tallest  and  most 
shapely,  and  in  many  respects  is  the  best  looking 
officer  of  them  all.  His  hair  is  very  light  brown, 
straight  and  moist/  and  always  looks  well,  his 
beard  is  of  the  same  color,  of  which  he  wears  the 
moustache  and  a  tuft  upon  the  chin;  complexion 
ruddy,  features  neither  large  nor  small,  but  well 
cut,  with  full  jaw  and  chin,  compressed  mouth, 
straight  nose,  full,  deep  blue  eyes,  and  a  veiy 
mobile,  emotional  countenance.  He  always 
dresses  remarkably  well,  and  his  manner  is  digni 
fied,  gentlemanly  and  commanding.  I  think  if 
he  were  in  citizens  clothes,  and  should  give  com 
mands  in  the  army  to  those  who  did  not  know  him, 
he  would  be  likely  to  be  obeyed  at  once,  and 
without  any  question  as  to  his  right  to  command. 
Sykes  is  a  small,  rather  thin  man,  well  dressed  and 
gentlemanly,  brown  hair  and  beard,  which  he 
wears  full,  with  a  red,  pinched,  rough-looking 
skin,  feeble  blue  eyes,  long  nose,  with  the  general 
air  of  one  who  is  weary  and  a  little  ill-natured. 

[69] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

Newton  is  a  well-sized,  shapely,  muscular,  well 
dressed  man,  with  brown  hair,  with  a  very  ruddy, 
clean-shaved,  full  face,  blue  eyes,  blunt,  round 
features,  walks  very  erect,  curbs  in  his  chin,  and 
has  somewhat  of  that  smart  sort  of  swagger  that 
people  are  apt  to  suppose  characterizes  soldiers. 
Pleasonton  is  quite  a  nice  little  dandy,  with  brown 
hair  and  beard,  a  straw  hat  with  a  little  jockey 
rim,  which  he  cocks  upon  one  side  of  his  head, 
with  an  unsteady  eye,  that  looks  slyly  at  you  and 
then  dodges.  Gibbon,  the  youngest  of  them  all, 
save  Howard,  is  about  the  same  size  as  Slocum, 
Howard,  Sykes  and  Pleasonton,  and  there  are 
none  of  these  who  will  weigh  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds.  He  is  compactly  made,  neither  spare 
nor  corpulent,  with  ruddy  complexion,  chestnut 
brown  hair,  with  a  clean-shaved  face,  except  his 
moustache,  which  is  decidedly  reddish  in  color, 
medium-sized,  well-shaped  head,  sharp,  moder 
ately-jutting  brow,  deep  blue,  calm  eyes,  sharp, 
slightly  aquiline  nose,  compressed  mouth,  full 
jaws  and  chin,  with  an  air  of  calm  firmness  in  his 
manner.  He  always  looks  well  dressed.  I  sup 
pose  Howard  is  about  thirty-five  and  Meade 

[70] 


GETTYSBURG 

about  forty-five  years  of  age;  the  rest  are  between 
these  ages,  but  not  many  under  forty.  As  they 
come  to  the  council  now,  there  is  the  appearance 
of  fatigue  about  them,  which  is  not  customary,  but 
is  only  due  to  the  hard  labors  of  the  past  few  days. 
They  all  wear  clothes  of  dark  blue,  some  have  top 
boots  and  some  not,  and  except  the  two-starred 
straps  upon  the  shoulders  of  all  save  Gibbon,  who 
has  but  one  star,  there  was  scarcely  a  piece  of  reg 
ulation  uniform  about  them  all.  They  wore  their 
swords,  of  various  patterns,  but  no  sashes,  the 
Army  hat,  but  with  the  crown  pinched  into  all 
sorts  of  shapes  and  the  rim  slouched  down  and 
shorn  of  all  its  ornaments  but  the  gilt  band — ex 
cept  Sykes  who  wore  a  blue  cap,  and  Pleasonton 
with  his  straw  hat  with  broad  black  band.  Then 
the  mean  little  room  where  they  met, — its  only 
furniture  consisted  of  a  large,  wide  bed  in  one 
corner,  a  small  pine  table  in  the  center,  upon 
which  was  a  wooden  pail  of  water,  with  a  tin  cup 
for  drinking,  and  a  candle,  stuck  to  the  table  by 
putting  the  end  in  tallow  melted  down  from  the 
wick,  and  five  or  six  straight-backed  rush-bot 
tomed  chairs.  The  Generals  came  in — some 

[71] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

sat,  some  kept  walking  or  standing,  two  lounged 
upon  the  bed,  some  were  constantly  smoking 
cigars.  And  thus  disposed,  they  deliberated 
whether  the  army  should  fall  back  from  its  present 
position  to  one  in  rear  which  it  was  said  was 
stronger,  should  attack  the  enemy  on  the  morrow, 
wherever  he  could  be  found,  or  should  stand  there 
upon  the  horse-shoe  crest,  still  on  the  defensive, 
and  await  the  further  movements  of  the  enemy. 

The  latter  proposition  was  unanimously  agreed 
to.  Their  heads  were  sound.  The  Army  of  the 
Potomac  would  just  halt  right  there,  and  allow 
the  Rebel  to  come  up  and  smash  his  head  against 
it,  to  any  reasonable  extent  he  desired,  as  he  had 
to-day.  After  some  two  hours  the  council  dis 
solved,  and  the  officers  went  their  several  ways. 

Night,  sultry  and  starless,  droned  on,  and  it  was 
almost  midnight  that  I  found  myself  peering  my 
way  from  the  line  of  the  Second  Corps,  back 
down  to  the  General's  Headquarters,  which  were 
an  ambulance  in  the  rear,  in  a  little  peach  orchard. 
All  was  silent  now  but  the  sound  of  the  am 
bulances,  as  they  were  bringing  off  the  wounded, 
and  you  could  hear  them  rattle  here  and  there 

[72] 


GETTYSBURG 

about  the  field,  and  see  their  lanterns.  I  am 
weary  and  sleepy,  almost  to  such  an  extent  as  not 
to  be  able  to  sit  on  my  horse.  And  my  horse  can 
hardly  move  —  the  spur  will  not  start  him — what 
can  be  the  reason?  I  know  that  he  has  been 
touched  by  two  or  three  bullets  to-day,  but  not  to 
wound  or  lame  him  to  speak  of.  Then,  in  riding 
by  a  horse  that  is  hitched,  in  the  dark,  I  got 
kicked ;  had  I  not  a  very  thick  boot,  the  blow 
would  have  been  likely  to  have  broken  my 
ankle  —  it  did  break  my  temper  as  it  was — and, 
as  if  it  would  cure  matters,  I  foolishly  spurred  my 
horse  again.  No  use,  he  would  but  walk.  I  dis 
mounted;  I  could  not  lead  him  along  at  all,  so  out 
of  temper  I  rode  at  the  slowest  possible  walk  to 
the  Headquarters,  which  I  reached  at  last.  Gen 
eral  Hancock  and  Gibbon  were  asleep  in  the  am 
bulance.  With  a  light  I  found  what  was  the 
matter  with  "Billy."  A  bullet  had  entered  his 
chest  just  in  front  of  my  left  leg,  as  I  was  mounted, 
and  the  blood  was  running  down  all  his  side  and 
leg,  and  the  air  from  his  lungs  came  out  of  the  bul 
let-hole.  I  begged  his  pardon  mentally  for  my 
cruelty  in  spurring  him,  and  should  have  done  so 

[73] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

in  words  if  he  could  have  understood  me.  Kind 
treatment  as  is  due  to  the  wounded  he  could  un 
derstand,  and  he  had  it.  Poor  Billy!  He  and 
I  were  first  under  fire  together,  and  I  rode  him  at 
the  second  Bull  Run  and  the  first  and  second 
Fredericksburg,  and  at  Antietam  after  brave 
"Joe"  was  killed;  but  I  shall  never  mount  him 
again  —  Billy's  battles  are  over. 

"George,  make  my  bed  here  upon  the  ground 
by  the  side  of  this  ambulance.  Pull  off  my  sabre 
and  my  boots  —  that  will  do!"  Was  ever 
princely  couch  or  softest  down  so  soft  as  those 
rough  blankets,  there  upon  the  unroofed  sod?  At 
midnight  they  received  me  for  four  hours  deli 
cious,  dreamless  oblivion  of  weariness  and  of  bat- 
lie.  So  to  me  ended  the  Second  of  July. 

At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  Third, 
I  was  awakened  by  Gen.  Gibbon's  pulling  me  by 
the  foot  and  saying:  "Come,  don't  you  hear 
that?"  I  sprang  up  to  my  feet.  Where  was  I? 
A  moment  and  my  dead  senses  and  memory  were 
alive  again,  and  the  sound  of  brisk  firing  of  mus 
ketry  to  the  front  and  right  of  the  Second  Corps, 
and  over  at  the  extreme  right  of  our  line,  where 

[74] 


GETTYSBURG 

we  heard  it  last  in  the  night,  brought  all  back  to 
my  memory.  We  surely  were  on  the  field  of  bat 
tle,  and  there  were  palpable  evidences  to  my  rea 
son  that  to-day  was  to  be  another  of  blood.  Oh ! 
for  a  moment  the  thought  of  it  was  sickening  to 
every  sense  and  feeling!  But  the  motion  of  my 
horse  as  I  galloped  over  the  crest  a  few  minutes 
later,  and  the  serene  splendor  of  the  morning  now 
breaking  through  rifted  clouds  and  spreading  over 
the  landscape,  soon  reassured  me.  Come  day  of 
battle!  Up  Rebel  hosts,  and  thunder  with  your 
arms !  We  are  all  ready  to  do  and  to  die  for  the 
Republic ! 

I  found  a  sharp  skirmish  going  on  in  front  of 
the  right  of  the  Second  Corps,  between  our  out 
posts  and  those  of  the  enemy,  but  save  this  —  and 
none  of  the  enemy  but  his  outposts  were  in 
sight  —  all  was  quiet  in  that  part  of  the  field. 
On  the  extreme  right  of  the  line  the  sound  of  mus 
ketry  was  quite  heavy;  and  this  I  learned  was 
brought  on  by  the  attack  of  the  Second  Division, 
Twelfth  Corps,  Gen.  Geary,  upon  the  enemy  in 
order  to  drive  him  out  of  our  works  which  he  had 
sneaked  into  yesterday,  as  I  have  mentioned. 

[75] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

The  attack  was  made  at  the  earliest  moment  in  the 
morning  when  it  was  light  enough  to  discern  ob 
jects  to  fire  at.  The  enemy  could  not  use  the 
works,  but  was  confronting  Geary  in  woods,  and 
had  the  cover  of  many  rocks  and  trees,  so  the  fight 
was  an  irregular  one,  now  breaking  out  and  swell 
ing  to  a  vigorous  fight,  now  subsiding  to  a  few  scat 
tering  shots;  and  so  it  continued  by  turns  until  the 
morning  was  well  advanced,  when  the  enemy  was 
finally  wholly  repulsed  and  driven  from  the  pits, 
and  the  right  of  our  line  was  again  re-established 
in  the  place  it  first  occupied.  The  heaviest  losses 
the  Twelfth  Corps  sustained  in  all  the  battle,  oc 
curred  during  this  attack,  and  they  were  here  quite 
severe.  I  heard  Gen.  Meade  express  dissatisfac 
tion  at  Gen.  Geary  for  making  this  attack,  as  a 
thing  not  ordered  and  not  necessary,  as  the  works 
of  ours  were  of  no  intrinsic  importance,  and  had 
not  been  captured  from  us  by  a  fight,  and  Geary's 
position  was  just  as  good  as  they,  where  he  was 
during  the  night.  And  I  heard  Gen.  Meade  say 
that  he  sent  an  order  to  have  the  fight  stopped ;  but 
I  believe  the  order  was  not  communicated  to 
Geary  until  after  the  repulse  of  the  enemy.  Late 

[76] 


V,..H 

OF  THf 


GETTYSBURG 

in  the  forenoon  the  enemy  again  tried  to  carry  our 
right  by  storm.  We  heard  that  old  Rebel  Ewell 
had  sworn  an  oath  that  he  would  break  our  right. 
He  had  Stonewall  Jackson's  Corps,  and  possibly 
imagined  himself  another  Stonewall,  but  he  cer 
tainly  hankered  after  the  right  of  our  line  —  and 
so  up  through  the  woods,  and  over  the  rocks,  and 
up  the  steeps  he  sent  his  storming  parties  —  our 
men  could  see  them  now  in  the  day  time.  But  all 
the  Rebel's  efforts  were  fruitless,  save  in  one 
thing,  slaughter  to  his  own  men.  These  assaults 
were  made  with  great  spirit  and  determination, 
but  as  the  enemy  would  come  up,  our  men  lying 
behind  their  secure  defenses  would  just  singe  them 
with  the  blaze  of  their  muskets,  and  riddle  them, 
as  a  hail-storm  the  tender  blades  of  corn.  The 
Rebel  oath  was  not  kept,  any  more  than  his  for 
mer  one  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  The  Rebel  loss  was  very  heavy  indeed, 
here,  ours  but  trifling.  I  regret  that  I  cannot  give 
more  of  the  details  of  this  fighting  upon  the 
right  —  it  was  so  determined  upon  the  part  of  the 
enemy,  both  last  night  and  this  morning  —  so  suc 
cessful  to  us.  About  all  that  I  actually  saw  of  it 

[77] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

during  its  progress,  was  the  smoke,  and  I  heard 
the  discharges.  My  information  is  derived  from 
officers  who  were  personally  in  it.  Some  of  our 
heavier  artillery  assisted  our  infantry  in  this  by  fir 
ing,  with  the  piece  elevated,  far  from  the  rear, 
over  the  heads  of  our  men,  at  a  distance  from  the 
enemy  of  two  miles,  I  suppose.  Of  course  they 
could  have  done  no  great  damage.  It  was  nearly 
eleven  o'clock  that  the  battle  in  this  part  of  the 
field  subsided,  not  to  be  again  renewed.  All  the 
morning  we  felt  no  apprehension  for  this  part  of 
the  line,  for  we  knew  its  strength,  and  that  our 
troops  engaged,  the  Twelfth  Corps  and  the  First 
Division,  Wadsworth's,  of  the  First,  could  be 
trusted. 

For  the  sake  of  telling  one  thing  at  a  time,  I 
have  anticipated  events  somewhat,  in  writing  of 
this  fight  upon  the  right.  I  shall  now  go  back  to 
the  starting  point,  four  o'clock  this  morning,  and, 
as  other  events  occurred  during  the  day,  second  to 
none  in  the  battle  in  importance,  which  I  think  I 
saw  as  much  of  as  any  man  living,  I  will  tell  you 
something  of  them,  and  what  I  saw,  and  how  the 
time  moved  on.  The  outpost  skirmish  that  I  have 

[78] 


GETTYSBURG 

mentioned,  soon  subsided.  I  suppose  it  was  the 
natural  escape  of  the  wrath  which  the  men  had, 
during  the  night,  hoarded  up  against  each  other, 
and  which,  as  soon  as  they  could  see  in  the  morn 
ing,  they  could  no  longer  contain,  but  must  let  it 
off  through  their  musket  barrels,  at  their  adversar 
ies.  At  the  commencement  of  the  war  such  fir 
ing  would  have  awaked  the  whole  army  and 
roused  it  to  its  feet  and  to  arms ;  not  so  now.  The 
men  upon  the  crest  lay  snoring  in  their  blankets, 
even  though  some  of  the  enemy's  bullets  dropped 
among  them,  as  if  bullets  were  as  harmless  as  the 
drops  of  dew  around  them.  As  the  sun  arose  to 
day,  the  clouds  became  broken,  and  we  had  once 
more  glimpses  of  sky,  and  fits  of  sunshine — a 
rarity,  to  cheer  us.  From  the  crest,  save  to  the 
right  of  the  Second  Corps,  no  enemy,  not  even  his 
outposts  could  be  discovered,  along  all  the  posi 
tion  where  he  so  thronged  upon  the  Third  Corps 
yesterday.  All  was  silent  there  —  the  wounded 
horses  were  limping  about  the  field;  the  ravages 
of  the  conflict  were  still  fearfully  visible  —  the 
scattered  arms  and  the  ground  thickly  dotted  with 
the  dead — but  no  hostile  foe.  The  men  were 

(791 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

roused  early,  in  order  that  the  morning  meal  might 
be  out  of  the  way  in  time  for  whatever  should  oc 
cur.  Then  ensued  the  hum  of  an  army,  not  in 
ranks,  chatting  in  low  tones,  and  running  about 
and  jostling  among  each  other,  rolling  and  pack 
ing  their  blankets  and  tents.  They  looked  like 
an  army  of  rag-gatherers,  while  shaking  these 
very  useful  articles  of  the  soldier's  outfit,  for  you 
must  know  that  rain  and  mud  in  conjunction  have 
not  had  the  effect  to  make  them  clean,  and  the 
wear  and  tear  of  service  have  not  left  them  en 
tirely  whole.  But  one  could  not  have  told  by  the 
appearance  of  the  men,  that  they  were  in  battle 
yesterday,  and  were  likely  to  be  again  to-day. 
They  packed  their  knapsacks,  boiled  their  coffee 
and  munched  their  hard  bread,  just  as  usual  —  just 
like  old  soldiers  who  know  what  campaigning  is; 
and  their  talk  is  far  more  concerning  their  present 
employment — some  joke  or  drollery — than  con 
cerning  what  they  saw  or  did  yesterday. 

As  early  as  practicable  the  lines  all  along  the 
left  are  revised  and  reformed,  this  having  been 
rendered  necessary  by  yesterday's  battle,  and  also 
by  what  is  anticipated  to-day. 

[80] 


GETTYSBURG 

It  is  the  opinion  of  many  of  our  Generals  that 
the  Rebel  will  not  give  us  battle  to-day  —  that  he 
had  enough  yesterday  —  that  he  will  be  heading 
towards  the  Potomac  at  the  earliest  practicable 
moment,  if  he  has  not  already  done  so;  but  the 
better,  and  controlling  judgment  is,  that  he  will 
make  another  grand  effort  to  pierce  or  turn  our 
lines  —  that  he  will  either  mass  and  attack  the  left 
again,  as  yesterday,  or  direct  his  operations  against 
the  left  of  our  center,  the  position  of  the  Second 
Corps,  and  try  to  sever  our  line.  I  infer  that  Gen, 
Meade  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  attack  to-day 
would  be  upon  the  left  —  this  from  the  disposition 
he  ordered,  I  know  that  Gen.  Hancock  antici 
pated  the  attack  upon  the  center. 

The  dispositions  to-day  upon  the  left  are  as  fol 
lows: 

The  Second  and  Third  Divisions  of  the  Sec 
ond  Corps  are  in  the  position  of  yesterday;  then 
on  the  left  come  Doubleday's —  the  Third  Divi 
sion  and  Col.  Stannard's  brigade  of  the  First 
Corps;  then  Colwell's  —  the  First  Division  of  the 
Second  Corps ;  then  the  Third  Corps,  temporarily 
under  the  command  of  Hancock,  since  Sickles' 

[81] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

wound.  The  Third  Corps  is  upon  the  same 
ground  in  part,  and  on  the  identical  line  where  it 
first  formed  yesterday  morning,  and  where,  had  it 
stayed  instead  of  moving  out  to  the  front,  we 
should  have  many  more  men  to-day,  and  should 
not  have  been  upon  the  brink  of  disaster  yesterday. 
On  the  left  of  the  Third  Corps  is  the  Fifth  Corps, 
with  a  short  front  and  deep  line;  then  comes  the 
Sixth  Corps,  all  but  one  brigade,  which  is  sent 
over  to  the  Twelfth.  The  Sixth,  a  splendid 
Corps,  almost  intact  in  the  fight  of  yesterday,  is 
the  extreme  left  of  our  line,  which  terminates  to 
the  south  of  Round  Top,  and  runs  along  its  west 
ern  base,  in  the  woods,  and  thence  to  the  Ceme 
tery.  This  Corps  is  burning  to  pay  off  the  old 
scores  made  on  the  4th  of  May,  there  back  of 
Fredericksburg.  Note  well  the  position  of  the 
Second  and  Third  Divisions  of  the  Second 
Corps  —  it  will  become  important.  There  are 
nearly  six  thousand  men  and  officers  in  these  two 
Divisions  here  upon  the  field  —  the  losses  were 
quite  heavy  yesterday,  some  regiments  are  de 
tached  to  other  parts  of  the  field  —  so  all  told 
there  are  less  than  six  thousand  men  now  in  the 

[82] 


GETTYSBURG 

two  Divisions,  who  occupy  a  line  of  about  a  thou 
sand  yards.  The  most  of  the  way  along  this  line 
upon  the  crest  was  a  stone  fence,  constructed  of 
small,  rough  stones,  a  good  deal  of  the  way  badly 
pulled  down,  but  the  men  had  improved  it  and 
patched  it  with  rails  from  the  neighboring  fences, 
and  with  earth,  so  as  to  render  it  in  many  places  a 
very  passable  breastwork  against  musketry  and 
flying  fragments  of  shells. 

These  works  are  so  low  as  to  compel  the  men  to 
kneel  or  lie  down  generally  to  obtain  cover. 
Near  the  right  of  the  Second  Division,  and  just 
by  the  little  group  of  trees  that  I  have  mentioned 
there,  this  stone  fence  made  a  right  angle,  and  ex 
tended  thence  to  the  front,  about  twenty  or  thirty 
yards,  where  with  another  less  than  a  right  angle 
it  followed  along  the  crest  again. 

The  lines  were  conformed  to  these  breastworks 
and  to  the  nature  of  the  ground  upon  the  crest,  so 
as  to  occupy  the  most  favorable  places,  to  be  cov 
ered,  and  still  be  able  to  deliver  effective  fire  upon 
the  enemy  should  he  come  there.  In  some  places 
a  second  line  was  so  posted  as  to  be  able  to  deliver 

its  fire  over  the  heads  of  the  first  line  behind  the 

[83] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

works ;  but  such  formation  was  not  practicable  all 
of  the  way.  But  all  the  force  of  these  two  divi 
sions  was  in  line,  in  position,  without  reserves,  and 
in  such  a  manner  that  every  man  of  them  could 
have  fired  his  piece  at  the  same  instant.  The 
division  flags,  that  of  the  Second  Division,  being 
a  white  trefoil  upon  a  square  blue  field,  and  of  the 
Third  Division  a  blue  trefoil  upon  a  white  rect 
angular  field,  waved  behind  the  divisions  at  the 
points  where  the  Generals  of  Division  were  sup 
posed  to  be ;  the  brigade  flags,  similar  to  these  but 
with  a  triangular  field,  were  behind  the  brigades; 
and  the  national  flags  of  the  regiments  were  in  the 
lines  of  their  regiments.  To  the  left  of  the  Sec 
ond  Division,  and  advanced  something  over  a 
hundred  yards,  were  posted  a  part  of  Stannard's 
Brigade  two  regiments  or  more,  behind  a  small 
bush-crowned  crest  that  ran  in  a  direction  oblique 
to  the  general  line.  These  were  well  covered  by 
the  crest,  and  wholly  concealed  by  the  bushes,  so 
that  an  advancing  enemy  would  be  close  upon 
them  before  they  could  be  seen.  Other  troops  of 
Doubleday's  Division  were  strongly  posted  in  rear 
of  these  in  the  general  line. 

[84] 


GETTYSBURG 

I  could  not  help  wishing  all  the  morning  that 
this  line  of  the  two  divisions  of  the  Second  Corps 
was  stronger;  it  was  so  far  as  numbers  constitute 
strength,  the  weakest  part  of  our  whole  line  of  bat 
tle.  What  if,  I  thought,  the  enemy  should  make 
an  assault  here  to-day,  with  two  or  three  heavy 
lines  —  a  great  overwhelming  mass;  would  he  not 
sweep  through  that  thin  six  thousand? 

But  I  was  not  General  Meade,  who  alone  had 
power  to  send  other  troops  there ;  and  he  was  sat 
isfied  with  that  part  of  the  line  as  it  was.  He 
was  early  on  horseback  this  morning,  and  rode 
along  the  whole  line,  looking  to  it  himself,  arid 
with  glass  in  hand  sweeping  the  woods  and  fields 
in  the  direction  of  the  enemy,  to  see  if  aught  of 
him  could  be  discovered.  His  manner  was  calm 
and  serious,  but  earnest.  There  was  no  arrogance 
of  hope,  or  timidity  of  fear  discernible  in  his  face; 
but  you  would  have  supposed  he  would  do  his 
duty  conscientiously  and  well,  and  would  be  will 
ing  to  abide  the  result.  You  would  have  seen 
this  in  his  face.  He  was  well  pleased  with  the 
left  of  the  line  to-day,  it  was  so  strong  with  good 
troops.  He  had  no  apprehension  for  the  right 

[85] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

where  the  fight  now  was  going  on,  on  account  of 
the  admirable  position  of  our  forces  there.  He 
was  not  of  the  opinion  that  the  enemy  would  at 
tack  the  center,  our  artillery  had  such  sweep  there, 
and  this  was  not  the  favorite  point  of  attack  with 
the  Rebel.  Besides,  should  he  attack  the  center, 
the  General  thought  he  could  reinforce  it  in  good 
season.  I  heard  Gen.  Meade  speak  of  these 
matters  to  Hancock  and  some  others,  at  about  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  while  they  were  up  by  the 
line,  near  the  Second  Corps. 

No  further  changes  of  importance  except  those 
mentioned,  were  made  in  the  disposition  of  the 
troops  this  morning,  except  to  replace  some  of  the 
batteries  that  were  disabled  yesterday  by  others 
from  the  artillery  reserve,  and  to  brace  up  the  lines 
well  with  guns  wherever  there  were  eligible 
places,  from  the  same  source.  The  line  is  all  in 
good  order  again,  and  we  are  ready  for  general 
battle. 

Save  the  operations  upon  the  right,  the  enemy 
so  far  as  we  could  see,  was  very  quiet  all  the  morn 
ing.  Occasionally  the  outposts  would  fire  a 
little,  and  then  cease.  Movements  would  be  dis- 

[86] 


GETTYSBURG 

covered  which  would  indicate  the  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  enemy  to  post  a  battery.  Our  Parrotts 
would  send  a  few  shells  to  the  spot,  then  silence 
would  follow. 

At  one  of  these  times  a  painful  accident  hap 
pened  to  us,  this  morning.  First  Lieut.  Henry 
Ropes,  20th  Mass.,  in  Gen.  Gibbon's  Division, 
a  most  estimable  gentleman  and  officer,  intelligent, 
educated,  refined,  one  of  the  noble  souls  that 
came  to  the  country's  defense,  while  lying  at  his 
post  with  his  regiment,  in  front  of  one  of  the  Bat 
teries,  which  fired  over  the  Infantry,  was  instantly 
killed  by  a  badly  made  shell,  which,  or  some  por 
tion  of  it,  fell  but  a  few  yards  in  front  of  the 
muzzle  of  the  gun.  The  same  accident  killed  or 
wounded  several  others.  The  loss  of  Ropes 
would  have  pained  us  at  any  time,  and  in  any 
manner;  in  this  manner  his  death  was  doubly 
painful. 

Between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock,  over  in  a 
peach  orchard  in  front  of  the  position  of  Sickles 
yesterday,  some  little  show  of  the  enemy's  infan 
try  was  discovered;  a  few  shells  scattered  the 
gray-backs;  they  again  appeared,  and  it  becoming 

[87] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

apparent  that  they  were  only  posting  a  skirmish 
line,  no  further  molestation  was  offered  them.  A 
little  after  this  some  of  the  enemy's  flags  could  be 
discerned  over  near  the  same  quarter,  above  the 
top  and  behind  a  small  crest  of  a  ridge.  There 
seemed  to  be  two  or  three  of  them  —  possibly  they 
were  guidons  —  and  they  moved  too  fast  to  be 
carried  on  foot.  Possibly,  we  thought,  the 
enemy  is  posting  some  batteries  there.  We  knew 
in  about  two  hours  from  this  time  better  about  the 
matter.  Eleven  o'clock  came.  The  noise  of 
battle  has  ceased  upon  the  right;  not  a  sound  of  a 
gun  or  musket  can  be  heard  on  all  the  field ;  the 
sky  is  bright,  with  only  the  white  fleecy  clouds 
floating  over  from  the  West.  The  July  sun 
streams  down  its  fire  upon  the  bright  iron  of  the 
muskets  in  stacks  upon  the  crest,  and  the  dazzling 
brass  of  the  Napoleons.  The  army  lolls  and 
longs  for  the  shade,  of  which  some  get  a  hand's 
breadth,  from  a  shelter  tent  stuck  upon  a  ramrod. 
The  silence  and  sultriness  of  a  July  noon  are  su 
preme.  Now  it  so  happened  that  just  about  this 
time  of  day  a  very  original  and  interesting  thought 

occurred  to  Gen.  Gibbon  and  several  of  his  staff; 

[881 


GETTYSBURG 

that  it  would  be  a  very  good  thing,  and  a  very 
good  time,  to  have  something  to  eat.  When  I 
announce  to  you  that  I  had  not  tasted  a  mouthful 
of  food  since  yesterday  noon,  and  that  all  I  had 
had  to  drink  since  that  time,  but  the  most  miser 
able  muddy  warm  water,  was  a  little  drink  of 
whiskey  that  Major  Biddle,  General  Meade's 
aide-de-camp,  gave  me  last  evening,  and  a  cup  of 
strong  coffee  that  I  gulped  down  as  I  was  first 
mounting  this  morning,  and  further,  that,  save  the 
four  or  five  hours  in  the  night,  there  was  scarcely 
a  moment  since  that  time  but  that  I  was  in  the 
saddle,  you  may  have  some  notion  of  the  reason  of 
my  assent  to  this  extraordinary  proposition.  Nor 
will  I  mention  the  doubts  I  had  as  to  the  feasibil 
ity  of  the  execution  of  this  very  novel  proposal, 
except  to  say  that  I  knew  this  morning  that  our 
larder  was  low ;  not  to  put  too  fine  a  point  upon  it, 
that  we  had  nothing  but  some  potatoes  and  sugar 
and  coffee  in  the  world.  And  I  may  as  well  say 
here,  that  of  such,  in  scant  proportion,  would  have 
been  our  repast,  had  it  not  been  for  the  riding  of 
miles  by  two  persons,  one  an  officer,  to  procure 
supplies;  and  they  only  succeeded  in  getting  some 
•f  [89] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

few  chickens,  some  butter,  and  one  huge  loaf  of 
bread,  which  last  was  bought  of  a  soldier,  because 
he  had  grown  faint  in  carrying  it,  and  was  after 
wards  rescued  with  much  difficulty  and  after  a 
long  race  from  a  four-footed  hog,  which  had  got 
hold  of  and  had  actually  eaten  a  part  of  it. 
"There  is  a  divinity,"  etc.  Suffice  it,  this  very  in 
genious  and  unheard  of  contemplated  proceeding, 
first  announced  by  the  General,  was  accepted  and 
at  once  undertaken  by  his  staff.  Of  the  absolute 
quality  of  what  we  had  to  eat,  I  could  not  pretend 
to  judge,  but  I  think  an  unprejudiced  person 
would  have  said  of  the  bread  that  it  was  good ;  so 
of  the  potatoes  before  they  were  boiled.  Of  the 
chickens  he  would  have  questioned  their  age,  but 
they  were  large  and  in  good  running  order.  The 
toast  was  good,  and  the  butter.  There  were 
those  who,  when  coffee  was  given  them,  called 
for  tea,  and  vice  versa,  and  were  so  ungracious  as 
to  suggest  that  the  water  that  was  used  in  both 
might  have  come  from  near  a  barn.  Of  course  it 
did  not.  We  all  came  down  to  the  little  peach 
orchard  where  we  had  stayed  last  night,  and, 
wonderful  to  see  and  tell,  ever  mindful  of  our 

[90] 


GETTYSBURG 

needs,  had  it  all  ready,  had  our  faithful  John. 
There  was  an  enormous  pan  of  stewed  chickens, 
and  the  potatoes,  and  toast,  all  hot,  and  the  bread 
and  the  butter,  and  tea  and  coffee.  There  was 
satisfaction  derived  from  just  naming  them  all 
over.  We  called  John  an  angel,  and  he  snick 
ered  and  said  he  "knowed"  we'd  come.  Gen 
eral  Hancock  is  of  course  invited  to  partake,  and 
without  delay  we  commence  operations.  Stools 
are  not  very  numerous,  two  in  all,  and  these  the 
two  Generals  have  by  common  consent.  Our 
table  was  the  top  of  a  mess  chest.  By  this  the 
Generals  sat.  The  rest  of  us  sat  upon  the  ground, 
cross-legged,  like  the  picture  of  a  smoking  Turk, 
and  held  our  plates  upon  our  laps.  How  deli 
cious  was  the  stewed  chicken.  I  had  a  cucumber 
pickle  in  my  saddle  bags,  the  last  of  a  lunch  left 
there  two  or  three  days  ago,  which  George 
brought,  and  I  had  half  of  it.  We  were  just  well 
at  it  when  General  Meade  rode  down  to  us  from 
the  line,  accompanied  by  one  of  his  staff,  and  by 
General  Gibbon's  invitation,  they  dismounted  and 
joined  us.  For  the  General  commanding  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  George,  by  an  effort 

[91] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

worthy  of  the  person  and  the  occasion,  finds  an 
empty  cracker  box  for  a  seat.  The  staff  officer 
must  sit  upon  the  ground  with  the  rest  of  us.  Soon 
Generals  Newton  and  Pleasonton,  each  with  an 
aide,  arrive.  By  an  almost  superhuman  effort  a 
roll  of  blankets  is  found,  which,  upon  a  pinch,  is 
long  enough  to  seat  these  Generals  both,  and  room 
is  made  for  them.  The  aides  sit  with  us.  And, 
fortunate  to  relate,  there  was  enough  cooked  for 
us  all,  and  from  General  Meade  to  the  youngest 
second  lieutenant  we  all  had  a  most  hearty  and 
well  relished  dinner.  Of  the  "past"  we  were 
"secure."  The  Generals  ate,  and  after,  lighted 
cigars,  and  under  the  flickering  shade  of  a  very 
small  tree,  discoursed  of  the  incidents  of  yester 
day's  battle  and  of  the  probabilities  of  today. 
General  Newton  humorously  spoke  of  General 
Gibbon  as  "this  young  North  Carolinian,"  and 
how  he  was  becoming  arrogant  and  above  his 
position,  because  he  commanded  a  corps.  Gen 
eral  Gibbon  retorted  by  saying  that  General  New 
ton  had  not  been  long  enough  in  such  a  command, 
only  since  yesterday,  to  enable  him  to  judge  of 
such  things.  General  Meade  still  thought  that 

[92] 


GETTYSBURG 

the  enemy  would  attack  his  left  again  to-day  to 
wards  evening;  but  he  was  ready  for  them.  Gen 
eral  Hancock  thought  that  the  attack  would  be 
upon  the  position  of  the  Second  Corps.  It  was 
mentioned  that  General  Hancock  would  again  as 
sume  command  of  the  Second  Corps  from  that 
time,  so  that  General  Gibbon  would  again  return 
to  the  Second  Division. 

General  Meade  spoke  of  the  Provost  Guards, 
that  they  were  good  men,  and  that  it  would  be 
better  to-day  to  have  them  in  the  works  than  to 
stop  stragglers  and  skulkers,  as  these  latter  would 
be  good  for  but  little  even  in  the  works ;  and  so  he 
gave  the  order  that  all  the  Provost  Guards  should 
at  once  temporarily  rejoin  their  regiments.  Then 
General  Gibbon  called  up  Captain  Farrel,  First 
Minnesota,  who  commanded  the  provost  guard  of 
his  division,  and  directed  him  for  that  day  to  join 
the  regiment.  "Very  well,  sir,"  said  the  Cap 
tain,  as  he  touched  his  hat  and  turned  away.  He 
was  a  quiet,  excellent  gentleman  and  thorough 
soldier.  I  knew  him  well  and  esteemed  him.  I 
never  saw  him  again.  He  was  killed  in  two  or 


[93 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

three  hours  from  that  time,  and  over  half  of  his 
splendid  company  were  either  killed  or  wounded. 

And  so  the  time  passed  on,  each  General  now 
and  then  dispatching  some  order  or  message  by  an 
officer  or  orderly,  until  about  half-past  twelve, 
when  all  the  Generals,  one  by  one,  first  General 
Meade,  rode  off  their  several  ways,  and  General 
Gibbon  and  his  staff  alone  remained. 

We  dozed  in  the  heat,  and  lolled  upon  the 
ground,  with  half  open  eyes.  Our  horses  were 
hitched  to  the  trees  munching  some  oats.  A  great 
lull  rests  upon  all  the  field.  Time  was  heavy, 
and  for  want  of  something  better  to  do,  I  yawned, 
and  looked  at  my  watch.  It  was  five  minutes  be 
fore  one  o'clock.  I  returned  my  watch  to  its 
pocket,  and  thought  possibly  that  I  might  go  to 
sleep,  and  stretched  myself  upon  the  ground  ac 
cordingly.  Ex  uno  disce  omnes.  My  attitude 
and  purpose  were  those  of  the  General  and  the 
rest  of  the  staff. 

What  sound  was  that?  There  was  no  mistak 
ing  it.  The  distinct  sharp  sound  of  one  of  the 
enemy's  guns,  square  over  to  the  front,  caused  us 
to  open  our  eyes  and  turn  them  in  that  direction, 

[94] 


GETTYSBURG 

when  we  saw  directly  above  the  crest  the  smoke 
of  the  bursting  shell,  and  heard  its  noise.  In  an 
instant,  before  a  word  was  spoken,  as  if  that  was 
the  signal  gun  for  general  work,  loud,  startling, 
booming,  the  report  of  gun  after  gun  in  rapid  suc 
cession  smote  our  ears  and  their  shells  plunged 
down  and  exploded  all  around  us.  We  sprang 
to  our  feet.  In  briefest  time  the  whole  Rebel  line 
to  the  West  was  pouring  out  its  thunder  and  its 
iron  upon  our  devoted  crest.  The  wildest  confu 
sion  for  a  few  moments  obtained  sway  among  us. 
The  shells  came  bursting  all  about.  The  serv 
ants  ran  terror-stricken  for  dear  life  and  disap 
peared.  The  horses,  hitched  to  the  trees  or  held 
by  the  slack  hands  of  orderlies,  neighed  out  in 
fright,  and  broke  away  and  plunged  riderless 
through  the  fields.  The  General  at  the  first  had 
snatched  his  sword,  and  started  on  foot  for  the 
front.  I  called  for  my  horse;  nobody  responded. 
I  found  him  tied  to  a  tree,  near  by,  eating  oats, 
with  an  air  of  the  greatest  composure,  which  un 
der  the  circumstances,  even  then  struck  me  as  ex 
ceedingly  ridiculous.  He  alone,  of  all  beasts  or 
men  near  was  cool.  I  am  not  sure  but  that  I 

[95J 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

learned  a  lesson  then  from  a  horse.  Anxious 
alone  for  his  oats,  while  I  put  on  the  bridle  and  ad 
justed  the  halter,  he  delayed  me  by  keeping  his 
head  down,  so  I  had  time  to  see  one  of  the  horses 
of  our  mess  wagon  struck  and  torn  by  a  shell. 
The  pair  plunge  —  the  driver  has  lost  the  reins  — 
horses,  driver  and  wagon  go  into  a  heap  by  a  tree. 
Two  mules  close  at  hand,  packed  with  boxes  of 
ammunition,  are  knocked  all  to  pieces  by  a  shell. 
General  Gibbon's  groom  has  just  mounted  his 
horse  and  is  starting  to  take  the  General's  horse  to 
him,  when  the  flying  iron  meets  him  and  tears 
open  his  breast.  He  drops  dead  and  the  horses 
gallop  away.  No  more  than  a  minute  since  the 
first  shot  was  fired,  and  I  am  mounted  and  riding 
after  the  General.  The  mighty  din  that  now 
rises  to  heaven  and  shakes  the  earth  is  not  all  of  it 
the  voice  of  the  rebellion;  for  our  guns,  the  guard 
ian  lions  of  the  crest,  quick  to  awake  when  danger 
comes,  have  opened  their  fiery  jaws  and  begun  to 
roar  —  the  great  hoarse  roar  of  battle.  I  overtake 
the  General  half  way  up  to  the  line.  Before  we 
reach  the  crest  his  horse  is  brought  by  an  orderly. 
Leaving  our  horses  just  behind  a  sharp  declivity 

[96] 


GETTYSBURG 

of  the  ridge,  on  foot  we  go  up  among  the  batteries. 
How  the  long  streams  of  fire  spout  from  the  guns, 
how  the  rifled  shells  hiss,  how  the  smoke  deepens 
and  rolls.  But  where  is  the  infantry?  Has  it 
vanished  in  smoke?  Is  this  a  nightmare  or  a 
juggler's  devilish  trick?  All  too  real.  The 
men  of  the  infantry  have  seized  their  arms,  and 
behind  their  works,  behind  every  rock,  in  every 
ditch,  wherever  there  is  any  shelter,  they  hug  the 
ground,  silent,  quiet,  unterrified,  little  harmed. 
The  enemy's  guns  now  in  action  are  in  position  at 
their  front  of  the  woods  along  the  second  ridge 
that  I  have  before  mentioned  and  towards  their 
right,  behind  a  small  crest  in  the  open  field,  where 
we  saw  the  flags  this  morning.  Their  line  is 
some  two  miles  long,  concave  on  the  side  towards 
us,  and  their  range  is  from  one  thousand  to 
eighteen  hundred  yards.  A  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  rebel  guns,  we  estimate,  are  now  active,  firing 
twenty-four  pound,  twenty,  twelve  and  ten-pound 
projectiles,  solid  shot  and  shells,  spherical,  coni 
cal,  spiral.  The  enemy's  fire  is  chiefly  concen 
trated  upon  the  position  of  the  Second  Corps. 
From  the  Cemetery  to  Round  Top,  with  over  a 

[97] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

hundred  guns,  and  to  all  parts  of  the  enemy's  line, 
our  batteries  reply,  of  twenty  and  ten-pound  Par- 
rotts,  ten-pound  rifled  ordnance,  and  twelve- 
pound  Napoleons,  using  projectiles  as  various  in 
shape  and  name  as  those  of  the  enemy.  Captain 
Hazard  commanding  the  artillery  brigade  of  the 
Second  Corps  was  vigilant  among  the  batteries  of 
his  command,  and  they  were  all  doing  well.  Ail 
was  going  on  satisfactorily.  We  had  nothing  to 
do,  therefore,  but  to  be  observers  of  the  grand 
spectacle  of  battle.  Captain  Wessels,  Judge  Ad 
vocate  of  the  Division,  now  joined  us,  and  we  sat 
down  behind  the  crest,  close  to  the  left  of  Gush- 
ing's  Battery,  to  bide  our  time,  to  see,  to  be  ready 
to  act  when  the  time  should  come,  which  might  be 
at  any  moment.  Who  can  describe  such  a  con 
flict  as  is  raging  around  us?  To  say  that  it  was 
like  a  summer  storm,  with  the  crash  of  thunder, 
the  glare  of  lightning,  the  shrieking  of  the  wind, 
and  the  clatter  of  hailstones,  would  be  weak. 
The  thunder  and  lightning  of  these  two  hundred 
and  fifty  guns  and  their  shells,  whose  smoke  dark 
ens  the  sky,  are  incessant,  all  pervading,  in  the  air 
above  our  heads,  on  the  ground  at  our  feet,  re- 

[98] 


GETTYSBURG 

mote,  near,  deafening,  ear-piercing,  astounding; 
and  these  hailstones  are  massy  iron,  charged  with 
exploding  fire.  And  there  is  little  of  human  in 
terest  in  a  storm;  it  is  an  absorbing  element  of  this. 
You  may  see  flame  and  smoke,  and  hurrying  men, 
and  human  passion  at  a  great  conflagration ;  but 
they  are  all  earthly  and  nothing  more.  These 
guns  are  great  infuriate  demons,  not  of  the  earth, 
whose  mouths  blaze  with  smoky  tongues  of  living 
fire,  and  whose  murky  breath,  sulphur-laden,  rolls 
around  them  and  along  the  ground,  the  smoke  of 
Hades.  These  grimy  men,  rushing,  shouting, 
their  souls  in  frenzy,  plying  the  dusky  globes  and 
the  igniting  spark,  are  in  their  league,  and  but  their 
willing  ministers.  We  thought  that  at  the  second 
Bull  Run,  at  the  Antietam  and  at  Fredericksburg 
on  the  1  1  th  of  December,  we  had  heard  heavy 
cannonading;  they  were  but  holiday  salutes  com 
pared  with  this.  Besides  the  great  ceaseless  roar 
of  the  guns,  which  was  but  the  background  of  the 
others,  a  million  various  minor  sounds  engaged  the 
ear.  The  projectiles  shriek  long  and  sharp. 
They  hiss,  they  scream,  they  growl,  they  sputter; 
all  sounds  of  life  and  rage;  and  each  has  its  dif- 

[99] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

ferent  note,  and  all  are  discordant.  Was  ever 
such  a  chorus  of  sound  before?  We  note  the 
effect  of  the  enemies'  fire  among  the  batteries  and 
along  the  crest.  We  see  the  solid  shot  strike  axle, 
or  pole,  or  wheel,  and  the  tough  iron  and  heart  of 
oak  snap  and  fly  like  straws.  The  great  oaks 
there  by  Woodruff's  guns  heave  down  their  massy 
branches  with  a  crash,  as  if  the  lightning  smote 
them.  The  shells  swoop  down  among  the  bat 
tery  horses  standing  there  apart.  A  half  a  dozen 
horses  start,  they  tumble,  their  legs  stiffen,  their 
vitals  and  blood  smear  the  ground.  And  these 
shot  and  shells  have  no  respect  for  men  either. 
We  see  the  poor  fellows  hobbling  back  from  the 
crest,  or  unable  to  do  so,  pale  and  weak,  lying  on 
the  ground  with  the  mangled  stump  of  an  arm  or 
leg,  dripping  their  life-blood  away;  or  with  a 
cheek  torn  open,  or  a  shoulder  mashed.  And 
many,  alas !  hear  not  the  roar  as  they  stretch  upon 
the  ground  with  upturned  faces  and  open  eyes, 
though  a  shell  should  burst  at  their  very  ears. 
Their  ears  and  their  bodies  this  instant  are  only 
mud.  We  saw  them  but  a  moment  since  there 

among  the  flame,  with  brawny  arms  and  muscles 

[ioo] 


GETTYSBURG 

of  iron  wielding  the  rammer  and  pushing  home 
the  cannon's  plethoric  load. 

Strange  freaks  these  round  shot  play!  We  saw 
a  man  coming  up  from  the  rear  with  his  full  knap 
sack  on,  and  some  canteens  of  water  held  by  the 
straps  in  his  hands.  He  was  walking  slowly  and 
with  apparent  unconcern,  though  the  iron  hailed 
around  him.  A  shot  struck  the  knapsack,  and  it, 
and  its  contents  flew  thirty  yards  in  every  direc 
tion,  the  knapsack  disappearing  like  an  egg, 
thrown  spitefully  against  a  rock.  The  soldier 
stopped  and  turned  about  in  puzzled  surprise,  put 
up  one  hand  to  his  back  to  assure  himself  that  the 
knapsack  was  not  there,  and  then  walked  slowly 
on  again  unharmed,  with  not  even  his  coat  tonu 
Near  us  was  a  man  crouching  behind  a  small  dis 
integrated  stone,  which  was  about  the  size  of  a 
common  water  bucket.  He  was  bent  up,  with 
his  face  to  the  ground,  in  the  attiude  of  a  Pagan 
worshipper  before  his  idol.  It  looked  so  absurd 
to  see  him  thus,  that  I  went  and  said  to  him,  "Do 
not  lie  there  like  a  toad.  Why  not  go  to  your 
regiment  and  be  a  man?"  He  turned  up  his  face 
with  a  stupid,  terrified  look  upon  me,  and  then 

[101] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

without  a  word  turned  his  nose  again  to  the 
ground.  An  orderly  that  was  with  me  at  the 
time,  told  me  a  few  moments  later,  that  a  shot 
struck  the  stone,  smashing  it  in  a  thousand  frag 
ments,  but  did  not  touch  the  man,  though  his  head 
was  not  six  inches  from  the  stone. 

All  the  projectiles  that  came  near  us  were  not 
so  harmless.  Not  ten  yards  away  from  us  a  shell 
burst  among  some  small  bushes,  where  sat  three 
or  four  orderlies  holding  horses.  Two  of  the 
men  and  one  horse  were  killed.  Only  a  few 
yards  off  a  shell  exploded  over  an  open  limber 
box  in  Cushing's  battery,  and  at  the  same  instant, 
another  shell  over  a  neighboring  box.  In  both 
the  boxes  the  ammunition  blew  up  with  an  explo 
sion  that  shook  the  ground,  throwing  fire  and 
splinters  and  shells  far  into  the  air  and  all  around, 
and  destroying  several  men.  We  watched  the 
shells  bursting  in  the  air,  as  they  came  hissing  in 
all  directions.  Their  flash  was  a  bright  gleam  of 
lightning  radiating  from  a  point,  giving  place  in 
the  thousandth  part  of  a  second  to  a  small,  white, 
puffy  cloud,  like  a  fleece  of  the  lightest,  whitest 

wool.     These  clouds  were  very  numerous.     We 

[102] 


GETTYSBURG 

could  not  often  see  the  shell  before  it  burst;  but 
sometimes,  as  we  faced  towards  the  enemy,  and 
looked  above  our  heads,  the  approach  would  be 
heralded  by  a  prolonged  hiss,  which  always 
seemed  to  me  to  be  a  line  of  something  tangible, 
terminating  in  a  black  globe,  distinct  to  the  eye,  as 
the  sound  had  been  to  the  ear.  The  shell  would 
seem  to  stop,  and  hang  suspended  in  the  air  an  in 
stant,  and  then  vanish  in  fire  and  smoke  and  noise. 
We  saw  the  missiles  tear  and  plow  the  ground. 
All  in  rear  of  the  crest  for  a  thousand  yards,  as 
well  as  among  the  batteries,  was  the  field  of  their 
blind  fury.  Ambulances,  passing  down  the 
Taneytown  road  with  wounded  men,  were 
struck.  The  hospitals  near  this  road  were 
riddled.  The  house  which  was  General 
Meade's  headquarters  was  shot  through  several 
times,  and  a  great  many  horses  of  officers  and  or 
derlies  were  lying  dead  around  it.  Riderless 
horses,  galloping  madly  through  the  fields,  were 
brought  up,  or  down  rather,  by  these  invisible 
horse-tamers,  and  they  would  not  run  any  more. 
Mules  with  ammunition,  pigs  wallowing  about, 
cows  in  the  pastures,  whatever  was  animate  or  m- 

[103] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

animate,  in  all  this  broad  range,  were  no  exception 
to  their    blind    havoc.     The    percussion    shells 
would  strike,  and  thunder,  and  scatter  the  earth 
and  their  whistling  fragments;    the  Whitworth 
bolts  would  pound  and  ricochet,  and  bowl   far 
away  sputtering,  with  the  sound  of  a  mass  of  hot 
iron  plunged  in  water;   and  the  great  solid  shot 
would  smite  the  unresisting  ground  with  a  sound 
ing  "thud,"  as  the  strong  boxer  crashes  his  iron  fist 
into  the  jaws  of  his  unguarded  adversary.     Such 
were  some  of  the  sights  and  sounds  of  this  great 
iron  battle  of  missiles.     Our  artillerymen  upon 
the  crest  budged  not  an  inch,  nor  intermitted, 
but,  though  caisson  and  limber  were  smashed, 
and  guns  dismantled,  and  men  and  horses  killed, 
there  amidst  smoke  and  sweat,  they  gave  back, 
without  grudge,  or  loss  of  time  in  the  sending,  in 
kind  whatever  the  enemy  sent,   globe,  and  cone, 
and  bolt,  hollow  or  solid,  an  iron  greeting  to  the 
rebellion,  the  compliments  of   the  wrathful   Re 
public.     An  hour  has  droned  its  flight  since  first 
the  war  began.     There  is  no  sign  of  weariness  or 
abatement  on  either  side.     So  long  it  seemed,  that 
the  din  and  crashing  around  began  to  appear  the 

[  104] 


GETTYSBURG 

normal  condition  of  nature  there,  and  fighting 
man's  element.  The  General  proposed  to  go 
among  the  men  and  over  to  the  front  of  the  bat 
teries,  so  at  about  two  o'clock  he  and  I  started. 
We  went  along  the  lines  of  the  infantry  as  they 
lay  there  flat  upon  the  earth,  a  little  to  the  front  of 
the  batteries.  They  were  suffering  little,  and 
were  quiet  and  cool.  How  glad  we  were  that 
the  enemy  were  no  better  gunners,  and  that  they 
cut  the  shell  fuses  too  long.  To  the  question 
asked  the  men,  "What  do  you  think  of  this?"  the 
replies  would  be,  "O,  this  is  bully,"  "We  are  get 
ting  to  like  it,"  "O,  we  don't  mind  this."  And 
so  they  lay  under  the  heaviest  cannonade  that  ever 
shook  the  continent,  and  among  them  a  thousand 
times  more  jokes  than  heads  were  cracked. 

We  went  down  in  front  of  the  line  some  two 
hundred  yards,  and  as  the  smoke  had  a  tendency 
to  settle  upon  a  higher  plain  than  where  we  were, 
we  could  see  near  the  ground  distinctly  all  over 
the  fields,  as  well  back  to  the  crest  where  were 
our  own  guns  as  to  the  opposite  ridge  where  were 
those  of  the  enemy.  No  infantry  was  in  sight, 
save  the  skirmishers,  and  they  stood  silent  and  mo- 

[105] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

tionless  —  a  row  of  gray  posts  through  the  field  on 
one  side  confronted  by  another  of  blue.  Under 
the  grateful  shade  of  some  elm  trees,  where  we 
could  see  much  of  the  field,  we  made  seats  of  the 
ground  and  sat  down.  Here  all  the  more  repul 
sive  features  of  the  fight  were  unseen,  by  reason  of 
the  smoke.  Man  had  arranged  the  scenes,  and 
for  a  time  had  taken  part  in  the  great  drama ;  but 
at  last,  as  the  plot  thickened,  conscious  of  his  little 
ness  and  inadequacy  to  the  mighty  part,  he  had 
stepped  aside  and  given  place  to  more  powerful 
actors.  So  it  seemed;  for  we  could  see  no  men 
about  the  batteries.  On  either  crest  we  could  see 
the  great  flaky  streams  of  fire,  and  they  seemed 
numberless,  of  the  opposing  guns,  and  their  white 
banks  of  swift,  convolving  smoke;  but  the  sound 
of  the  discharges  was  drowned  in  the  universal 
ocean  of  sound.  Over  all  the  valley  the  smoke, 
a  sulphury  arch,  stretched  its  lurid  span;  and 
through  it  always,  shrieking  on  their  unseen 
courses,  thickly  flew  a  myriad  iron  deaths.  With 
our  grim  horizon  on  all  sides  round  toothed  thick 
with  battery  flame,  under  that  dissonant  canopy  of 

warring  shells,  we  sat  and  heard  in  silence.  What 

[106] 


GETTYSBURG 

other  expression  had  we  that  was  not  mean,  for 
such  an  awful  universe  of  battle? 

A  shell  struck  our  breastwork  of  rails  up  in  sight 
of  us,  and  a  moment  afterwards  we  saw  the  men 
bearing  some  of  their  wounded  companions  away 
from  the  same  spot ;  and  directly  two  men  came 
from  there  down  toward  where  we  were  and 
sought  to  get  shelter  in  an  excavation  near  by, 
where  many  dead  horses,  killed  in  yesterday's 
fight,  had  been  thrown.  General  Gibbon  said  to 
these  men,  more  in  a  tone  of  kindly  expostulation 
than  of  command:  "My  men,  do  not  leave  your 
ranks  to  try  to  get  shelter  here.  All  these  matters 
are  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  nothing  that  you  can 
do  will  make  you  safer  in  one  place  than  in  an 
other."  The  men  went  quietly  back  to  the  line 
at  once.  The  General  then  said  to  me:  "I  am 
not  a  member  of  any  church,  but  I  have  always 
had  a  strong  religious  feeling;  and  so  in  all  these 
battles  I  have  always  believed  that  I  was  in  the 
hands  of  God,  and  that  I  should  be  unharmed  or 
not,  according  to  his  will.  For  this  reason,  I 
think  it  is,  I  am  always  ready  to  go  where  duty 
calls,  no  matter  how  great  the  danger."  Half- 

[107] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

past  two  o'clock,  an  hour  and  a  half  since  the 
commencement,  and  still  the  cannonade  did  not  in 
the  least  abate ;  but  soon  thereafter  some  signs  of 
weariness  and  a  little  slacking  of  fire  began  to  be 
apparent  upon  both  sides.  First  we  saw  Brown's 
battery  retire  from  the  line,  too  feeble  for  further 
battle.  Its  position  was  a  little  to  the  front  of  the 
line.  Its  commander  was  wounded,  and  many 
of  its  men  were  so,  or  worse ;  some  of  its  guns  had 
been  disabled,  many  of  its  horses  killed;  its  am 
munition  was  nearly  expended.  Other  batteries 
in  similar  case  had  been  withdrawn  before  to  be 
replaced  by  fresh  ones,  and  some  were  withdrawn 
afterwards.  Soon  after  the  battery  named  had 
gone  the  General  and  I  started  to  return,  passing 
towards  the  left  of  the  division,  and  crossing  the 
ground  where  the  guns  had  stood.  The  stricken 
horses  were  numerous,  and  the  dead  and  wounded 
men  lay  about,  and  as  we  passed  these  latter,  their 
low,  piteous  call  for  water  would  invariably  come 
to  us,  if  they  had  yet  any  voice  left.  I  found  can 
teens  of  water  near  —  no  difficult  matter  where  a 
battle  has  been  —  and  held  them  to  livid  lips,  and 
even  in  the  faintness  of  death  the  eagerness  to 

[108] 


GETTYSBURG 

drink  told  of  their  terrible  torture  of  thirst.  But 
we  must  pass  on.  Our  infantry  was  still  un 
shaken,  and  in  all  the  cannonade  suffered  very 
little.  The  batteries  had  been  handled  much 
more  severely.  I  am  unable  to  give  any  figures. 
A  great  number  of  horses  had  been  killed,  in 
some  batteries  more  than  half  of  all.  Guns  had 
been  dismounted.  A  great  many  caissons,  lim 
bers  and  carriages  had  been  destroyed,  and  usu 
ally  from  ten  to  twenty-five  men  to  each  battery 
had  been  struck,  at  least  along  our  part  of  the 
crest.  Altogether  the  fire  of  the  enemy  had  in 
jured  us  much,  both  in  the  modes  that  I  have 
stated,  and  also  by  exhausting  our  ammunition 
and  fouling  our  guns,  so  as  to  render  our  batteries 
unfit  for  further  immediate  use.  The  scenes  that 
met  our  eyes  on  all  hands  among  the  batteries  were 
fearful.  All  things  must  end,  and  the  great  can 
nonade  was  no  exception  to  the  general  law  of 
earth.  In  the  number  of  guns  active  at  one  time, 
and  in  the  duration  and  rapidity  of  their  fire,  this 
artillery  engagement,  up  to  this  time,  must  stand 
alone  and  pre-eminent  in  this  war.  It  has  not 
been  often,  or  many  times,  surpassed  in  the  battles 

[  109] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

of  the  world.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  guns,  at 
least,  rapidly  fired  for  two  mortal  hours.  Cipher 
out  the  number  of  tons  of  gunpowder  and  iron  that 
made  these  two  hours  hideous. 

Of  the  injury  of  our  fire  upon  the  enemy,  except 
the  facts  that  ours  was  the  superior  position,  if  not 
better  served  and  constructed  artillery,  and  that 
the  enemy's  artillery  hereafter  during  the  battle 
was  almost  silent,  we  know  little.  Of  course, 
during  the  fight  we  often  saw  the  enemy's  caissons 
explode,  and  the  trees  rent  by  our  shot  crashing 
about  his  ears,  but  we  can  from  these  alone  infer 
but  little  of  general  results.  At  three  o'clock  al 
most  precisely  the  last  shot  hummed,  and  bounded 
and  fell,  and  the  cannonade  was  over.  The  pur 
pose  of  General  Lee  in  all  this  fire  of  his  guns  — 
we  know  it  now,  we  did  not  at  the  time  so  well  — 
was  to  disable  our  artillery  and  break  up  our  in 
fantry  upon  the  position  of  the  Second  Corps,  so 
as  to  render  them  less  an  impediment  to  the  sweep 
of  his  own  brigades  and  divisions  over  our  crest 
and  through  our  lines.  He  probably  supposed 
our  infantry  was  massed  behind  the  crest  and 
the  batteries;  and  hence  his  fire  was  so  high,  and 

[no] 


GETTYSBURG 

his  fuses  to  the  shells  were  cut  so  long,  too  long. 
The  Rebel  General  failed  in  some  of  his  plans  in 
this  behalf,  as  many  generals  have  failed  before 
and  will  again.  The  artillery  fight  over,  men  be 
gan  to  breathe  more  freely,  and  to  ask,  What  next, 
I  wonder?  The  battery  men  were  among  their 
guns,  some  leaning  to  rest  and  wipe  the  sweat  from 
their  sooty  faces,  some  were  handling  ammunition 
boxes  and  replenishing  those  that  were  empty. 
Some  batteries  from  the  artillery  reserve  were 
moving  up  to  take  the  places  of  the  disabled  ones; 
the  smoke  was  clearing  from  the  crests.  There 
was  a  pause  between  acts,  with  the  curtain  down, 
soon  to  rise  upon  the  great  final  act,  and  catas 
trophe  of  Gettysburg.  We  have  passed  by  the 
left  of  the  Second  Division,  coming  from  the 
First;  when  we  crossed  the  crest  the  enemy  was 
not  in  sight,  and  all  was  still  —  we  walked  slowly 
along  in  the  rear  of  the  troops,  by  the  ridge  cut  off 
now  from  a  view  of  the  enemy  in  his  position,  and 
were  returning  to  the  spot  where  we  had  left  our 
horses.  General  Gibbon  had  just  said  that  he  in 
clined  to  the  belief  that  the  enemy  was  falling 

back,  and  that  the  cannonade  was  only  one  of  his 

[in] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

noisy  modes  of  covering  the  movement.  I  said 
that  I  thought  that  fifteen  minutes  would  show 
that,  by  all  his  bowling,  the  Rebel  did  not  mean 
retreat.  We  were  near  our  horses  when  we 
noticed  Brigadier  General  Hunt,  Chief  of  Artil 
lery  of  the  Army,  near  Woodruff's  Battery, 
swiftly  moving  about  on  horseback,  and  appar 
ently  in  a  rapid  manner  giving  some  orders  about 
the  guns.  Thought  we,  what  could  this  mean? 
In  a  moment  afterwards  we  met  Captain  Wessels 
and  the  orderlies  who  had  our  horses ;  they  were 
on  foot  leading  the  horses.  Captain  Wessels  was 
pale,  and  he  said,  excited:  "General,  they  say 
the  enemy's  infantry  is  advancing."  We  sprang 
into  our  saddles,  a  score  of  bounds  brought  us 
upon  the  all-seeing  crest.  To  say  that  men  grew 
pale  and  held  their  breath  at  what  we  and  they 
there  saw,  would  not  be  true.  Might  not  six 
thousand  men  be  brave  and  without  shade  of  fear, 
and  yet,  before  a  hostile  eighteen  thousand,  armed, 
and  not  five  minutes'  march  away,  turn  ashy 
white?  None  on  that  crest  now  need  be  told  that 
the  enemy  is  advancing.  Every  eye  could  see  his 
legions,  an  overwhelming  resistless  tide  of  an 

[112] 


GETTYSBURG 

ocean  of  armed  men  sweeping  upon  us!  Regiment 
after  regiment  and  brigade  after  brigade  move 
from  the  woods  and  rapidly  take  their  places  in  the 
lines  forming  the  assault.  Pickett's  proud  divi 
sion,  with  some  additional  troops,  hold  their  right; 
Pettigrew's  (Worth's)  their  left.  The  first  line 
at  short  interval  is  followed  by  a  second,  and  that 
a  third  succeeds ;  and  columns  between  support  the 
lines.  More  than  half  a  mile  their  front  extends; 
more  than  a  thousand  yards  the  dull  gray  masses 
deploy,  man  touching  man,  rank  pressing  rank, 
and  line  supporting  line.  The  red  flags  wave, 
their  horsemen  gallop  up  and  down;  the  arms  of 
eighteen  thousand  men,  barrel  and  bayonet,  gleam 
in  the  sun,  a  sloping  forest  of  flashing  steel. 
Right  on  they  move,  as  with  one  soul,  in  perfect 
order,  without  impediment  of  ditch,  or  wall  or 
stream,  over  ridge  and  slope,  through  orchard  and 
meadow,  and  cornfield,  magnificent,  grim,  irre 
sistible.  All  was  orderly  and  still  upon  our  crest ; 
no  noise  and  no  confusion.  The  men  had  little 
need  of  commands,  for  the  survivors  of  a  dozen 
battles  knew  well  enough  what  this  array  in  front 
portended,  and,  already  in  their  places,  they 

[113] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

would  be  prepared  to  act  when  the  right  time 
should  come.  The  click  of  the  locks  as  each  man 
raised  the  hammer  to  feel  with  his  fingers  that  the 
cap  was  on  the  nipple;  the  sharp  jar  as  a  musket 
touched  a  stone  upon  the  wall  when  thrust  in  aim 
ing  over  it,  and  the  clicking  of  the  iron  axles  as  the 
guns  were  rolled  up  by  hand  a  little  further  to  the 
front,  were  quite  all  the  sounds  that  could  be 
heard.  Cap-boxes  were  slid  around  to  the  front 
of  the  body;  cartridge  boxes  opened,  officers 
opened  their  pistol-holsters.  Such  preparations, 
little  more  was  needed.  The  trefoil  flags,  colors 
of  the  brigades  and  divisions  moved  to  their  places 
in  rear;  but  along  the  lines  in  front  the  grand  old 
ensign  that  first  waved  in  battle  at  Saratoga  in 
1777,  and  which  these  people  coming  would  rob 
of  half  its  stars,  stood  up,  and  the  west  wind  kissed 
it  as  the  sergeants  sloped  its  lance  towards  the 
enemy.  I  believe  that  not  one  above  whom  it 
then  waved  but  blessed  his  God  that  he  was  loyal 
to  it,  and  whose  heart  did  not  swell  with  pride  to 
wards  it,  as  the  emblem  of  the  Republic  before 
that  treason's  flaunting  rag  in  front.  General 
Gibbon  rode  down  the  lines,  cool  and  calm,  and 

[114] 


GETTYSBURG 

in  an  unimpassioned  voice  he  said  to  the  men,  "Do 
not  hurry,  men,  and  fire  too  fast,  let  them  come  up 
close  before  you  fire,  and  then  aim  low  and 
steadily."  The  coolness  of  their  General  was  re 
flected  in  the  faces  of  his  men.  Five  minutes  has 
elapsed  since  first  the  enemy  have  emerged  from 
the  woods  —  no  great  space  of  time  surely,  if 
measured  by  the  usual  standard  by  which  men  es 
timate  duration  —  but  it  was  long  enough  for  us  to 
note  and  weigh  some  of  the  elements  of  mighty 
moment  that  surrounded  us ;  the  disparity  of  num 
bers  between  the  assailants  and  the  assailed ;  that 
few  as  were  our  numbers  we  could  not  be  sup 
ported  or  reinforced  until  support  would  not  be 
needed  or  would  be  too  late;  that  upon  the  ability 
of  the  two  trefoil  divisions  to  hold  the  crest  and  re 
pel  the  assault  depended  not  only  their  own  safety 
or  destruction,  but  also  the  honor  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  and  defeat  or  victory  at  Gettysburg. 
Should  these  advancing  men  pierce  our  line  and 
become  the  entering  wedge,  driven  home,  that 
would  sever  our  army  asunder,  what  hope  would 
there  be  afterwards,  and  where  the  blood-earned 
fruits  of  yesterday?  It  was  long  enough  for  the 

[115] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

Rebel  storm  to  drift  across  more  than  half  the 
space  that  had  at  first  separated  it  from  us.  None, 
or  all,  of  these  considerations  either  depressed  or 
elevated  us.  They  might  have  done  the  former, 
had  we  been  timid;  the  latter  had  we  been  con 
fident  and  vain.  But,  we  were  there  waiting,  and 
ready  to  do  our  duty  —  that  done,  results  could 
not  dishonor  us. 

Our  skirmishers  open  a  spattering  fire  along  the 
front,  and,  fighting,  retire  upon  the  main  line  —  the 
first  drops,  the  heralds  of  the  storm,  sounding  on 
our  windows.  Then  the  thunders  of  our  guns, 
first  Arnold's  then  Cushing's  and  Woodruff's  and 
the  rest,  shake  and  reverberate  again  through  the 
air,  and  their  sounding  shells  smite  the  enemy. 
The  General  said  I  had  better  go  and  tell  General 
Meade  of  this  advance.  To  gallop  to  General 
Meade's  headquarters,  to  learn  there  that  he  had 
changed  them  to  another  part  of  the  field,  to  dis 
patch  to  him  by  the  Signal  Corps  in  General  Gib 
bon's  name  the  message,  "The  enemy  is  advanc 
ing  his  infantry  in  force  upon  my  front,"  and  to  be 
again  upon  the  crest,  were  but  the  work  of  a  min 
ute.  All  our  available  guns  are  now  active,  and 

[116] 


GETTYSBURG 

from  the  fire  of  shells,  as  the  range  grows  shorter 
and  shorter,  they  change  to  shrapnel,  and  from 
shrapnel  to  canister ;  but  in  spite  of  shells,  and 
shrapnel  and  canister,  without  wavering  or  halt, 
the  hardy  lines  of  the  enemy  continue  to  move  on. 
The  Rebel  guns  make  no  reply  to  ours,  and  no 
charging  shout  rings  out  to-day,  as  is  the  Rebel 
wont;  but  the  courage  of  these  silent  men  amid 
our  shots  seems  not  to  need  the  stimulus  of  other 
noise.  The  enemy's  right  flank  sweeps  near  Stan- 
nard's  bushy  crest,  and  his  concealed  Vermont- 
ers  rake  it  with  a  well-delivered  fire  of  musketry. 
The  gray  lines  do  not  halt  or  reply,  but  withdraw 
ing  a  little  from  that  extreme,  they  still  move  on. 
And  so  across  all  that  broad  open  ground  they 
have  come,  nearer  and  nearer,  nearly  half  the 
way,  with  our  guns  bellowing  in  their  faces,  until 
now  a  hundred  yards,  no  more,  divide  our  ready 
left  from  their  advancing  right.  The  eager  men 
there  are  impatient  to  begin.  Let  them.  First, 
Harrow's  breastworks  flame;  then  Hall's;  then 
Webb's.  As  if  our  bullets  were  the  fire  coals 
that  touched  off  their  muskets,  the  enemy  in  front 
halts,  and  his  countless  level  barrels  blaze  back 

[117] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

upon  us.  The  Second  Division  is  struggling  in 
battle.  The  rattling  storm  soon  spreads  to  the 
right,  and  the  blue  trefoils  are  vicing  with  the 
white.  All  along  each  hostile  front,  a  thousand 
yards,  with  narrowest  space  between,  the  volleys 
blaze  and  roll ;  as  thick  the  sound  as  when  a  sum 
mer  hail-storm  pelts  the  city  roofs ;  as  thick  the  fire 
as  when  the  incessant  lightning  fringes  a  summer 
cloud.  When  the  Rebel  infantry  had  opened  fire 
our  batteries  soon  became  silent,  and  this  without 
their  fault,  for  they  were  foul  by  long  previous 
use.  They  were  the  targets  of  the  concentrated 
Rebel  bullets,  and  some  of  them  had  expended 
all  their  canister.  But  they  were  not  silent  before 
Rhorty  was  killed,  Woodruff  had  fallen  mortally 
wounded,  and  Gushing,  firing  almost  his  last  can 
ister,  had  dropped  dead  among  his  guns  shot 
through  the  head  by  a  bullet.  The  conflict  is  left 
to  the  infantry  alone.  Unable  to  find  my  general 
when  I  had  returned  to  the  crest  after  transmitting 
his  message  to  General  Meade,  and  while  riding 
in  the  search  having  witnessed  the  development  of 
the  fight,  from  the  first  fire  upon  the  left  by  the 
main  lines  until  all  of  the  two  divisions  were  furi- 

[118] 


GETTYSBURG 

ously  engaged,  I  gave  up  hunting  as  useless  —  I 
was  convinced  General  Gibbon  could  not  be  on 
the  field ;  I  left  him  mounted ;  I  could  easily  have 
found  him  now  had  he  so  remained  —  but  now, 
save  myself,  there  was  not  a  mounted  officer  near 
the  engaged  lines  —  and  was  riding  towards  the 
right  of  the  Second  Division,  with  purpose  to  stop 
there,  as  the  most  eligible  position  to  watch  the 
further  progress  of  the  battle,  there  to  be  ready  to 
take  part  according  to  my  own  notions  whenever 
and  wherever  occasion  was  presented.  The  con 
flict  was  tremendous,  but  I  had  seen  no  wavering 
in  all  our  line.  Wondering  how  long  the  Rebel 
ranks,  deep  though  they  were,  could  stand  our 
sheltered  volleys,  I  had  come  near  my  destination, 
when  —  great  heaven!  were  my  senses  mad? 
The  larger  portion  of  Webb's  brigade  —  my 
God,  it  was  true  —  there  by  the  group  of  trees  and 
the  angles  of  the  wall,  was  breaking  from  the 
cover  of  their  works,  and,  without  orders  or  rea 
son,  with  no  hand  lifted  to  check  them,  was  fall 
ing  back,  a  fear-stricken  flock  of  confusion!  The 
fate  of  Gettysburg  hung  upon  a  spider's  single 
thread!  A  great  magnificent  passion  came  on  me 

[119] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

at  the  instant,  not  one  that  overpowers  and  con 
founds,  but  one  that  blanches  the  face  and 
sublimes  every  sense  and  faculty.  My  sword, 
that  had  always  hung  idle  by  my  side,  the  sign  of 
rank  only  in  every  battle,  I  drew,  bright  and 
gleaming,  the  symbol  of  command.  Was  not 
that  a  fit  occasion,  and  these  fugitives  the  men  on 
whom  to  try  the  temper  of  the  Solinzen  steel? 
All  rules  and  proprieties  were  forgotten ;  all  con 
siderations  of  person,  and  danger  and  safety  de 
spised  ;  for,  as  I  met  the  tide  of  these  rabbits,  the 
damned  red  flags  of  the  rebellion  began  to  thicken 
and  flaunt  along  the  wall  they  had  just  deserted, 
and  one  was  already  waving  over  one  of  the  guns 
of  the  dead  Gushing.  I  ordered  these  men  to 
"halt,"  and  "face  about"  and  "fire,"  and  they 
heard  my  voice  and  gathered  my  meaning,  and 
obeyed  my  commands.  On  some  unpatriotic 
backs  of  those  not  quick  of  comprehension,  the  flat 
of  my  sabre  fell  not  lightly,  and  at  its  touch  their 
love  of  country  returned,  and,  with  a  look  at  me 
as  if  I  were  the  destroying  angel,  as  I  might  have 
become  theirs,  they  again  faced  the  enemy.  Gen 
eral  Webb  soon  came  to  my  assistance.  He  was 

[  120] 


GETTYSBURG 

on  foot,  but  he  was  active,  and  did  all  that  one 
could  do  to  repair  the  breach,  or  to  avert  its  calam 
ity.  The  men  that  had  fallen  back,  facing  the 
enemy,  soon  regained  confidence  in  themselves, 
and  became  steady.  This  portion  of  the  wall 
was  lost  to  us,  and  the  enemy  had  gained  the  cover 
of  the  reverse  side,  where  he  now  stormed  with 
fire.  But  Webb's  men,  with  their  bodies  in  part 
protected  by  the  abruptness  of  the  crest,  now  sent 
back  in  the  enemies'  faces  as  fierce  a  storm.  Some 
scores  of  venturesome  Rebels,  that  in  their  first 
push  at  the  wall  had  dared  to  cross  at  the  further 
angle,  and  those  that  had  desecrated  Cushing's 
guns,  were  promptly  shot  down,  and  speedy  death 
met  him  who  should  raise  his  body  to  cross  it 
again.  At  this  point  little  could  be  seen  of  the 
enemy,  by  reason  of  his  cover  and  the  smoke,  ex 
cept  the  flash  of  his  muskets  and  his  waving  flags. 
These  red  flags  were  accumulating  at  the  wall 
every  moment,  and  they  maddened  us  as  the  same 
color  does  the  bull.  Webb's  men  are  falling  fast, 
and  he  is  among  them  to  direct  and  encourage; 
but,  however  well  they  may  now  do,  with  that 
walled  enemy  in  front,  with  more  than  a  dozen 

•>  [121] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

flags  to  Webb's  three,  it  soon  becomes  apparent 
that  in  not  many  minutes  they  will  be  overpow 
ered,  or  that  there  will  be  none  alive  for  the  enemy 
to  overpower.  Webb,  has  but  three  regiments, 
all  small,  the  69th,  7 1  st  and  72d  Pennsylvania  — 
the  1 06th  Pennsylvania,  except  two  companies,  is 
not  here  to-day  —  and  he  must  have  speedy  assist 
ance,  or  this  crest  will  be  lost.  Oh,  where  is 
Gibbon?  where  is  Hancock?  —  some  general  — 
anybody  with  the  power  and  the  will  to  support 
that  wasting,  melting  line?  No  general  came, 
and  no  succor!  I  thought  of  Hayes  upon  the  right, 
but  from  the  smoke  and  war  along  his  front,  it  was 
evident  that  he  had  enough  upon  his  hands,  if  he 
stayed  the  in-rolling  tide  of  the  Rebels  there. 
Doubleday  upon  the  left  was  too  far  off  and  too 
slow,  and  on  another  occasion  I  had  begged  him 
to  send  his  idle  regiments  to  support  another  line 
battling  with  thrice  its  numbers,  and  this  "Old 
Sumpter  Hero"  had  declined.  As  a  last  resort  I 
resolved  to  see  if  Hall  and  Harrow  could  not  send 
some  of  their  commands  to  reinforce  Webb.  I 
galloped  to  the  left  in  the  execution  of  my  pur 
pose,  and  as  I  attained  the  rear  of  Hall's  line, 

[  122] 


GETTYSBURG 

from  the  nature  of  the  ground  and  the  position  of 
the  enemy  it  was  easy  to  discover  the  reason  and 
the  manner  of  this  gathering  of  Rebel  flags  in  front 
of  Webb.  The  enemy,  emboldened  by  his  suc 
cess  in  gaining  our  line  by  the  group  of  trees  and 
the  angle  of  the  wall,  was  concentrating  all  his 
right  against  and  was  further  pressing  that  point. 
There  was  the  stress  of  his  assault;  there  would 
he  drive  his  fiery  wedge  to  split  our  line.  In 
front  of  Harrow's  and  Hall's  Brigades  he  had 
been  able  to  advance  no  nearer  than  when  he  first 
halted  to  deliver  fire,  and  these  commands  had 
not  yielded  an  inch.  To  effect  the  concentration 
before  Webb,  the  enemy  would  march  the  regi 
ment  on  his  extreme  right  of  each  of  his  lines  by 
the  left  flank  to  the  rear  of  the  troops,  still  halted 
and  facing  to  the  front,  and  so  continuing  to  draw 
in  his  right,  when  they  were  all  massed  in  the  posi 
tion  desired,  he  would  again  face  them  to  the 
front,  and  advance  to  the  storming.  This  was  the 
way  he  made  the  wall  before  Webb's  line  blaze 
red  with  his  battle  flags,  and  such  was  the  purpose 
there  of  his  thick-crowding  battalions.  Not  a  mo 
ment  must  be  lost.  Colonel  Hall  I  found  just  in 

[123] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

rear  of  his  line,  sword  in  hand,  cool,  vigilant,  not 
ing  all  that  passed  and  directing  the  battle  of  his 
brigade.  The  fire  was  constantly  diminishing 
now  in  his  front,  in  the  manner  and  by  the  move 
ment  of  the  enemy  that  I  have  mentioned,  drifting 
to  the  right.  "How  is  it  going?"  Colonel  Hall 
asked  me,  as  I  rode  up.  "Well,  but  Webb  is 
hotly  pressed  and  must  have  support,  or  he  will  be 
overpowered.  Can  you  assist  him?"  "Yes." 
"You  cannot  be  too  quick."  "I  will  move  my 
brigade  at  once."  "Good."  He  gave  the  order, 
and  in  briefest  time  I  saw  five  friendly  colors 
hurrying  to  the  aid  of  the  imperilled  three;  and 
each  color  represented  true,  battle-tried  men,  that 
had  not  turned  back  from  Rebel  fire  that  day  nor 
yesterday,  though  their  ranks  were  sadly  thinned, 
to  Webb's  brigade,  pressed  back  as  it  had  been 
from  the  wall,  the  distance  was  not  great  from 
Hall's  right.  The  regiments  marched  by  the 
right  flank.  Col.  Hall  superintended  the  move 
ment  in  person.  Col.  Devereux  coolly  com 
manded  the  19th  Massachusetts.  His  major, 
Rice,  had  already  been  wounded  and  carried  off. 
Lieut.  Col.  Macy,  of  the  20th  Mass.,  had  just 

[I24J 


GETTYSBURG 

had  his  left  hand  shot  off,  and  so  Capt.  Abbott 
gallantly  led  over  this  fine  regiment.  The  42d 
New  York  followed  their  excellent  Colonel  Mal- 
lon.  Lieut.  Col.  Steele,  7th  Mich.,  had  just  been 
killed,  and  his  regiment,  and  the  handful  of  the 
59th  N.  Y.,  followed  their  colors.  The  move 
ment,  as  it  did,  attracting  the  enemy's  fire,  and 
executed  in  haste,  as  it  must  be,  was  difficult ;  but 
in  reasonable  time,  and  in  order  that  is  serviceable, 
if  not  regular,  Hall's  men  are  fighting  gallantly 
side  by  side  with  Webb's  before  the  all  important 
point.  I  did  not  stop  to  see  all  this  movement  of 
Hall's,  but  from  him  I  went  at  once  further  to  the 
left,  to  the  1  st  brigade.  Gen'l  Harrow  I  did  not 
see,  but  his  fighting  men  would  answer  my  pur 
pose  as  well.  The  1 9th  Me.,  the  1  5th  Mass.,  the 
32d  N.  Y.  and  the  shattered  old  thunderbolt,  the 
1  st  Minn.  —  poor  Farrell  was  dying  then  upon  the 
ground  where  he  had  fallen,  —  all  men  that  I 
could  find  I  took  over  to  the  right  at  the  double 

quick* 

As  we  were  moving  to,  and  near  the  other  bri 
gade  of  the  division,  from  my  position  on  horse 
back  I  could  see  that  the  enemy's  right,  under 

[125] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

Hall's  fire,  was  beginning  to  stagger  and  to  break. 
"See,"  I  said  to  the  men,  "See  the  chivalry!  See 
the  gray-backs  run!"  The  men  saw,  and  as  they 
swept  to  their  places  by  the  side  of  Hall  and 
opened  fire,  they  roared,  and  this  in  a  manner  thai 
said  more  plainly  than  words  —  for  the  deaf  could 
have  seen  it  in  their  faces,  and  the  blind  could 
have  heard  it  in  their  voices  —  the  crest  is  safe! 

The  whole  Division  concentrated,  and  changes 
of  position,  and  new  phases,  as  well  on  our  part 
as  on  that  of  the  enemy,  having  as  indicated  oc 
curred,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  exact  pres 
ent  posture  of  affairs,  some  further  description  is 
necessary.  Before  the  2d  Division  the  enemy  is 
massed,  the  main  bulk  of  his  force  covered  by  the 
ground  that  slopes  to  his  rear,  with  his  front  at  the 
stone  wall.  Between  his  front  and  us  extends  the 
very  apex  of  the  crest.  All  there  are  left  of  the 
White  Trefoil  Division — yesterday  morning 
there  were  three  thousand  eight  hundred,  this 
morning  there  were  less  than  three  thousand  —  at 
this  moment  there  are  somewhat  over  two  thou 
sand; —  twelve  regiments  in  three  brigades  are 
below  or  behind  the  crest,  in  such  a  position  that 

[126! 


GETTYSBURG 

by  the  exposure  of  the  head  and  upper  part  of  the 
body  above  the  crest  they  can  deliver  their  fire  in 
the  enemy's  faces  along  the  top  of  the  wall.  By 
reason  of  the  disorganization  incidental  in  Webb's 
brigade  to  his  men's  having  broken  and  fallen 
back,  as  mentioned,  in  the  two  other  brigades  to 
their  rapid  and  difficult  change  of  position  under 
fire,  and  in  all  the  division  in  part  to  severe  and 
continuous  battle,  formation  of  companies  and 
regiments  in  regular  ranks  is  lost ;  but  commands, 
companies,  regiments  and  brigades  are  blended 
and  intermixed  —  an  irregular  extended  mass  — 
men  enough,  if  in  order,  to  form  a  line  of  four  or 
five  ranks  along  the  whole  front  of  the  division. 
The  twelve  flags  of  the  regiments  wave  defiantly 
at  intervals  along  the  front;  at  the  stone  wall,  at 
unequal  distances  from  ours  of  forty,  fifty  or  sixty 
yards,  stream  nearly  double  this  number  of  the 
battle  flags  of  the  enemy.  These  changes  accom 
plished  on  either  side,  and  the  concentration  com 
plete,  although  no  cessation  or  abatement  in  the 
general  din  of  conflict  since  the  commencement 
had  at  any  time  been  appreciable,  now  it  was  as  if 
a  new  battle,  deadlier,  stormier  than  before,  had 

[127] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

sprung  from  the  body  of  the  old — a  young  Phoe 
nix  of  combat,  whose  eyes  stream  lightning,  shak 
ing  his  arrowy  wings  over  the  yet  glowing  ashes 
of  his  progenitor.  The  jostling,  swaying  lines  on 
either  side  boil,  and  roar,  and  dash  their  flamy 
spray,  two  hostile  billows  of  a  fiery  ocean.  Thick 
flashes  stream  from  the  wall,  thick  volleys  answer 
from  the  crest.  No  threats  or  expostulation  now, 
only  example  and  encouragement.  All  depths  of 
passion  are  stirred,  and  all  combatives  fire,  down 
to  their  deep  foundations.  Individuality  is 
drowned  in  a  sea  of  clamor,  and  timid  men, 
breathing  the  breath  of  the  multitude,  are  brave. 
The  frequent  dead  and  wounded  lie  where  they 
stagger  and  fall  —  there  is  no  humanity  for  them 
now,  and  none  can  be  spared  to  care  for  them. 
The  men  do  not  cheer  or  shout;  they  growl,  and 
over  that  uneasy  sea,  heard  with  the  roar  of  mus 
ketry,  sweeps  the  muttered  thunder  of  a  storm  of 
growls.  Webb,  Hall,  Devereux,  Mallon,  Ab 
bott  among  the  men  where  all  are  heroes,  are  do 
ing  deeds  of  note.  Now  the  loyal  wave  rolls  up 
as  if  it  would  overleap  its  barrier,  the  crest.  Pis 
tols  flash  with  the  muskets.  My  "Forward  to  the 

[128] 


GETTYSBURG 

wall"  is  answered  by  the  Rebel  counter-com 
mand,  "Steady,  men !"  and  the  wave  swings  back. 
Again  it  surges,  and  again  it  sinks.  These  men 
of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  soil  of  their  own  home 
steads,  the  first  and  only  to  flee  the  wall,  must  be 
the  first  to  storm  it.  "Major — Jead  your  men 
over  the  crest,  they  will  follow."  "By  the  tactics 
I  understand  my  place  is  in  rear  of  the  men." 
"Your  pardon,  sir;  I  see  your  place  is  in  rear  of 
the  men.  I  thought  you  were  fit  to  lead."  "Capt. 
Sapler,  come  on  with  your  men."  "Let  me  first 
stop  this  fire  in  the  rear,  or  we  shall  be  hit  by  our 
own  men."  "Never  mind  the  fire  in  the  rear;  let 
us  take  care  of  this  in  front  first."  "Sergeant, 
forward  with  your  color.  Let  the  Rebels  see  it 
close  to  their  eyes  once  before  they  die."  The 
color  sergeant  of  the  72d  Pa.,  grasping  the  stump 
of  the  severed  lance  in  both  his  hands,  waved  the 
flag  above  his  head  and  rushed  towards  the  wall. 
"Will  you  see  your  color  storm  the  wall  alone?" 
One  man  only  starts  to  follow.  Almost  half 
way  to  the  wall,  down  go  color  bearer  and  color 
to  the  ground  —  the  gallant  sergeant  is  dead.  The 
line  springs  —  the  crest  of  the  solid  ground  with  a 

[129] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

great  roar,  heaves  forward  its  maddened  load, 
men,  arms,  smoke,  fire,  a  fighting  mass.  It  rolls 
to  the  wall  —  flash  meets  flash,  the  wall  is  crossed 
—  a  moment  ensues  of  thrusts,  yells,  blows,  shots, 
and  undistinguishable  conflict,  followed  by  a 
shout  universal  that  makes  the  welkin  ring  again, 
and  the  last  and  bloodiest  fight  of  the  great  battle 
of  Gettysburg  is  ended  and  won. 

Many  things  cannot  be  described  by  pen  or  pen 
cil —  such  a  fight  is  one.  Some  hints  and  inci 
dents  may  be  given,  but  a  description  or  picture 
never.  From  what  is  told  the  imagination  may 
for  itself  construct  the  scene;  otherwise  he  who 
never  saw  can  have  no  adequate  idea  of  what  such 
a  battle  is. 

When  the  vortex  of  battle  passion  had  sub 
sided,  hopes,  fears,  rage,  joy,  of  which  the  mad 
dest  and  the  noisiest  was  the  last,  and  we  were 
calm  enough  to  look  about  us,  we  saw  that,  as 
with  us,  the  fight  with  the  Third  Division  was 
ended,  and  that  in  that  division  was  a  repetition 
of  the  scenes  immediately  about  us.  In  that  mo 
ment  the  judgment  almost  refused  to  credit  the 
senses.  Are  these  abject  wretches  about  us, 

[130] 


,\.  A-  >l-  -I-  •!•  'I-  •!• 

GETTYSBURG 


Battle  of  Gettysburg— Final  attack,  July  3 
(Compiled  by  C    E.  Estabrook) 


GETTYSBURG 

whom  our  men  are  now  disarming  and  driving  to 
gether  in  flocks,  the  jaunty  men  of  Pickett's  Divi 
sion,  whose  steady  lines  and  flashing  arms  but  a 
few  moment's  since  came  sweeping  up  the  slope  to 
destroy  us?  Are  these  red  cloths  that  our  men 
toss  about  in  derision  the  "fiery  Southern  crosses," 
thrice  ardent,  the  battle  flags  of  the  rebellion  that 
waved  defiance  at  the  wall?  We  know,  but  so 
sudden  has  been  the  transition,  we  yet  can  scarce 
believe. 

Just  as  the  fight  was  over,  and  the  first  outburst 
of  victory  had  a  little  subsided,  when  all  in  front 
of  the  crest  was  noise  and  confusion  —  prisoners 
being  collected,  small  parties  in  pursuit  of  them 
far  down  into  the  fields,  flags  waving,  officers  giv 
ing  quick,  sharp  commands  to  their  men — I  stood 
apart  for  a  few  moments  upon  the  crest,  by  that 
group  of  trees  which  ought  to  be  historic  forever, 
a  spectator  of  the  thrilling  scene  around.  Some 
few  musket  shots  were  still  heard  in  the  Third  Di 
vision;  and  the  enemy's  guns,  almost  silent  since 
the  advance  of  his  infantry  until  the  moment  of 
his  defeat,  were  dropping  a  few  sullen  shells 
among  friend  and  foe  upon  the  crest.  Rebellion 

[131] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

fosters  such  humanity.  Near  me,  saddest  sight  of 
the  many  of  such  a  field  and  not  in  keeping  with 
all  this  noise,  were  mingled  alone  the  thick  dead 
of  Maine  and  Minnesota,  and  Michigan  and 
Massachusetts,  and  the  Empire  and  Keystone 
States,  who,  not  yet  cold,  with  the  blood  still  ooz 
ing  from  their  death-wounds,  had  given  their  lives 
to  the  country  upon  that  stormy  field.  So 
mingled  upon  that  crest  let  their  honored  graves 
be.  Look  with  me  about  us.  These  dead  have 
been  avenged  already.  Where  the  long  lines  of 
the  enemy's  thousands  so  proudly  advanced,  see 
how  thick  the  silent  men  of  gray  are  scattered. 
It  is  not  an  hour  since  these  legions  were  sweeping 
along  so  grandly;  now  sixteen  hundred  of  that 
fiery  mass  are  strewn  among  the  trampled  grass, 
dead  as  the  clods  they  load ;  more  than  seven  thou 
sand,  probably  eight  thousand,  are  wounded,  some 
there  with  the  dead,  in  our  hands,  some  fugitive 
far  towards  the  woods,  among  them  Generals  Pet- 
tigrew,  Garnett,  Kemper  and  Armstead,  the  last 
three  mortally,  and  the  last  one  in  our  hands. 
"Tell  General  Hancock,"  he  said  to  Lieutenant 
Mitchell,  Hancock's  aide-de-camp,  to  whom  he 

[132] 


GETTYSBURG 

handed  his  watch,  "that  I  know  I  did  my 
country  a  great  wrong  when  I  took  up  arms 
against  her,  for  which  I  am  sorry,  but  for  which 
I  cannot  live  to  atone."  Four  thousand,  not 
wounded,  are  prisoners  of  war.  More  in  num 
ber  of  the  captured  than  the  captors.  Our 
men  are  still  "gathering  them  in."  Some  hold  up 
their  hands  or  a  handkerchief  in  sign  of  submis 
sion  ;  some  have  hugged  the  ground  to  escape  our 
bullets  and  so  are  taken ;  few  made  resistance  after 
the  first  moment  of  our  crossing  the  wall ;  some 
yield  submissively  with  good  grace,  some  with 
grim,  dogged  aspect,  showing  that  but  for  the 
other  alternative  they  could  not  submit  to  this. 
Colonels,  and  all  less  grades  of  officers,  in  the 
usual  proportion  are  among  them,  and  all  are  be 
ing  stripped  of  their  arms.  Such  of  them  as  es 
caped  wounds  and  capture  are  fleeing  routed  and 
panic  stricken,  and  disappearing  in  the  woods. 
Small  arms,  more  thousands  than  we  can  count, 
are  in  our  hands,  scattered  over  the  field.  And 
these  defiant  battle-flags,  some  inscribed  with 
"First  Manassas,"  the  numerous  battles  of  the 
Peninsula,  "Second  Manassas,"  "South  Moun- 

[133] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

tain,"  "Sharpsburg,"  (our  Antietam),  "Freder- 
icksburg,"  "Chancellorsville,"  and  many  more 
names,  our  men  have,  and  are  showing  about,  over 
thirty  of  them. 

Such  was  really  the  closing  scene  of  the  grand 
drama  of  Gettysburg.  After  repeated  assaults 
upon  the  right  and  the  left,  where,  and  in  all  of 
which  repulse  had  been  his  only  success,  this  per 
sistent  and  presuming  enemy  forms  his  chosen 
troops,  the  flower  of  his  army,  for  a  grand  assault 
upon  our  center.  The  manner  and  result  of  such 
assault  have  been  told  —  a  loss  to  the  enemy  of 
from  twelve  thousand  to  fourteen  thousand, 
killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  and  of  over  thirty 
battle-flags.  This  was  accomplished  by  not  over 
six  thousand  men,  with  a  loss  on  our  part  of  not 
over  two  thousand  five  hundred  killed  and 
wounded. 

Would  to  Heaven  General  Hancock  and  Gib 
bon  could  have  stood  there  where  I  did,  and  have 
looked  upon  that  field!  It  would  have  done  two 
men,  to  whom  the  country  owes  much,  good  to 
have  been  with  their  men  in  that  moment  of  vic 
tory —  to  have  seen  the  result  of  those  dispositions 

[134] 


GETTYSBURG 

which  they  had  made,  and  of  that  splendid  fight 
ing  which  men  schooled  by  their  discipline,  had 
executed.  But  they  are  both  severely  wounded 
and  have  been  carried  from  the  field.  One  per 
son  did  come  then  that  I  was  glad  to  see  there,  and 
that  was  no  less  than  Major  General  Meade, 
whom  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  fortunate 
enough  to  have  at  that  time  to  command  it.  See 
how  a  great  General  looked  upon  the  field,  and 
what  he  said  and  did  at  the  moment,  and  when  he 
learned  of  his  great  victory.  To  appreciate  the 
incident  I  give,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  one 
coming  up  from  the  rear  of  the  line,  as  did  Gen 
eral  Meade,  could  have  seen  very  little  of  our  own 
men,  who  had  now  crossed  the  crest,  and  although 
he  could  have  heard  the  noise,  he  could  not  have 
told  its  occasion,  or  by  whom  made,  until  he  had 
actually  attained  the  crest.  One  who  did  not 
know  results,  so  coming,  would  have  been  quite  as 
likely  to  have  supposed  that  our  line  there  had 
been  carried  and  captured  by  the  enemy  —  so 
many  gray  Rebels  were  on  the  crest  —  as  to  have 
discovered  the  real  truth.  Such  mistake  was 
really  made  by  one  of  our  officers,  as  I  shall  relate. 

[1351 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

General  Meade  rode  up,  accompanied  alone  by 
his  son,  who  is  his  aide-de-camp,  an  escort,  if 
select,  not  large  for  a  commander  of  such  an  army. 
The  principal  horseman  was  no  bedizened  hero 
of  some  holiday  review,  but  he  was  a  plain  man, 
dressed  in  a  serviceable  summer  suit  of  dark  blue 
cloth,  without  badge  or  ornament,  save  the  shoul 
der-straps  of  his  grade,  and  a  light,  straight  sword 
of  a  General  or  General  staff  officer.  He  wore 
heavy,  high-top  boots  and  buff  gauntlets,  and  his 
soft  black  felt  hat  was  slouched  down  over  his 
eyes.  His  face  was  very  white,  not  pale,  and  the 
lines  were  marked  and  earnest  and  full  of  care. 
As  he  arrived  near  me,  coming  up  the  hill,  he 
asked,  in  a  sharp,  eager  voice:  "How  is  it  going 
here?"  "I  believe,  General,  the  enemy's  attack  is 
repulsed,"  I  answered.  Still  approaching,  and  a 
new  light  began  to  come  in  his  face,  of  gratified 
surprise,  with  a  touch  of  incredulity,  of  which  his 
voice  was  also  the  medium,  he  further  asked: 
"What!  Is  the  assault  already  repulsed?"  his 
voice  quicker  and  more  eager  than  before.  "It  is, 
sir,"  I  replied.  By  this  time  he  was  on  the  crest, 
and  when  his  eye  had  for  an  instant  swept  over 

[136] 


GETTYSBURG 

the  field,  taking  in  just  a  glance  of  the  whole  - 
the  masses  of  prisoners,  the  numerous  captured 
flags  which  the  men  were  derisively  flaunting 
about,  the  fugitives  of  the  routed  enemy,  disap 
pearing  with  the  speed  of  terror  in  the  woods  — 
partly  at  what  I  had  told  him,  partly  at  what  he 
saw,  he  said,  impressively,  and  his  face  lighted: 
"Thank  God."  And  then  his  right  hand  moved 
as  if  it  would  have  caught  off  his  hat  and  waved 
it;  but  this  gesture  he  suppressed,  and  instead  he 
waved  his  hand,  and  said  "Hurrah!"  The  son, 
with  more  youth  in  his  blood  and  less  rank  upon 
his  shoulders,  snatched  off  his  cap,  and  roared  out 
his  three  "hurrahs"  right  heartily.  The  General 
then  surveyed  the  field,  some  minutes,  in  silence. 
He  at  length  asked  who  was  in  command  —  he 
had  heard  that  Hancock  and  Gibbon  were 
wounded  —  and  I  told  him  that  General  Cald- 
well  was  the  senior  officer  of  the  Corps  and  Gen 
eral  Harrow  of  the  Division.  He  asked  where 
they  were,  but  before  I  had  time  to  answer  that  I 
did  not  know,  he  resumed:  "No  matter;  I  will 
give  my  orders  to  you  and  you  will  see  them  exe 
cuted."  He  then  gave  direction  that  the  troops 


•10 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

should  be  reformed  as  soon  as  practicable,  and 
kept  in  their  places,  as  the  enemy  might  be  mad 
enough  to  attack  again.  He  also  gave  directions 
concerning  the  posting  of  some  reinforcements 
which  he  said  would  soon  be  there,  adding:  "If 
the  enemy  does  attack,  charge  him  in  the  flank  and 
sweep  him  from  the  field;  do  you  understand." 
The  General  then,  a  gratified  man,  galloped  in 
the  direction  of  his  headquarters. 

Then  the  work  of  the  field  went  on.  First,  the 
prisoners  were  collected  and  sent  to  the  rear. 
"There  go  the  men,"  the  Rebels  were  heard  to 
say,  by  some  of  our  surgeons  who  were  in  Gettys 
burg,  at  the  time  Pickett's  Division  marched  out  to 
take  position-  "There  go  the  men  that  will  go 
through  your  d — d  Yankee  lines,  for  you."  A 
good  many  of  them  did  "go  through  our  lines  for 
us,"  but  in  a  very  different  way  from  the  one  they 
intended  —  not  impetuous  victors,  sweeping  away 
our  thin  lines  with  ball  and  bayonet,  but  crestfal 
len  captives,  without  arms,  guarded  by  the  true 
bayonets  of  the  Union,  with  the  cheers  of  their 
conquerors  ringing  in  their  ears.  There  was  a 
grim  truth  after  all  in  this  Rebel  remark.  Col- 

[138] 


GETTYSBURG 

lected,  the  prisoners  began  their  dreary  march,  a 
miserable,  melancholy  stream  of  dirty  gray,  to 
pour  over  the  crest  to  our  rear.  Many  of  the  offi 
cers  were  well  dressed,  fine,  proud  gentlemen, 
such  men  as  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  meet,  when 
the  war  is  over.  I  had  no  desire  to  exult  over 
them,  and  pity  and  sympathy  were  the  general 
feelings  of  us  all  upon  the  occasion.  The  cheer 
ing  of  our  men,  and  the  unceremonious  handling 
of  the  captured  flags  was  probably  not  gratifying 
to  the  prisoners,  but  not  intended  for  taunt  or  in 
sult  to  the  men;  they  could  take  no  exception  to 
such  practices.  When  the  prisoners  were  turned 
to  the  rear  and  were  crossing  the  crest,  Lieut.  Col. 
Morgan,  General  Hancock's  Chief  of  Staff,  was 
conducting  a  battery  from  the  artillery  reserve,  to 
wards  the  Second  Corps.  As  he  saw  the  men  in 
gray  coming  over  the  hill,  he  said  to  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  battery:  "See  up  there!  The 
enemy  has  carried  the  crest.  See  them  come 
pouring  over!  The  old  Second  Corps  is  gone, 
and  you  had  better  get  your  battery  away  from 
here  as  quickly  as  possible,  or  it  will  be  captured." 
The  officer  was  actually  giving  the  order  to  his 

[139] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

men  to  move  back,  when  close  observation  discov 
ered  that  the  gray-backs  that  were  coming  had  no 
arms,  and  then  the  truth  flashed  upon  the  minds  of 
the  observers.  The  same  mistake  was  made  by 
others. 

In  view  of  the  results  of  that  day — the  suc 
cesses  of  the  arms  of  the  country,  would  not  the 
people  of  the  whole  country,  standing  there  upon 
the  crest  with  General  Meade,  have  said,  with 
him:  "Thank  God?" 

I  have  no  knowledge  and  little  notion  of  how 
long  a  time  elapsed  from  the  moment  the  fire  of 
the  infantry  commenced,  until  the  enemy  was  en 
tirely  repulsed,  in  this  his  grand  assault.  I  judge, 
from  the  amount  of  fighting  and  the  changes  of 
position  that  occurred,  that  probably  the  fight  was 
of  nearly  an  hour's  duration,  but  I  cannot  tell,  and 
I  have  seen  none  who  knew.  The  time  seemed 
but  a  very  few  minutes,  when  the  battle  was  over. 

When  the  prisoners  were  cleared  away  and  or 
der  was  again  established  upon  our  crest,  where 
the  conflict  had  impaired  it,  until  between  five  and 
six  o'clock,  I  remained  upon  the  field,  directing 

some  troops  to  their  position,  in  conformity  to  the 

[140] 


GETTYSBURG 

orders  of  General  Meade.  The  enemy  appeared 
no  more  in  front  of  the  Second  Corps ;  but  while  I 
was  engaged  as  I  have  mentioned,  farther  to  our 
left  some  considerable  force  of  the  enemy  moved 
out  and  made  show  of  attack.  Our  artillery,  now 
in  good  order  again,  in  due  time  opened  fire,  and 
the  shells  scattered  the  "Butternuts,"  as  clubs  do 
the  gray  snow-birds  of  winter,  before  they  came 
within  range  of  our  infantry.  This,  save  unim 
portant  outpost  firing,  was  the  last  of  the  battle. 

Of  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  and  the  movements 
of  the  army  subsequent  to  the  battle,  until  the 
crossing  of  the  Potomac  by  Lee  and  the  closing  of 
the  campaign,  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  write.  Suf 
fice  it  that  on  the  night  of  the  3d  of  July  the  enemy 
withdrew  his  left,  Ewell's  Corps,  from  our  front, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  we  again  occupied 
the  village  of  Gettysburg,  and  on  that  national 
day  victory  was  proclaimed  to  the  country;  that 
floods  of  rain  on  that  day  prevented  army  move 
ments  of  any  considerable  magnitude,  the  day  be 
ing  passed  by  our  army  in  position  upon  the  field, 
in  burying  our  dead,  and  some  of  those  of  the 
enemy,  and  in  making  the  movements  already  in- 

[141] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

dicated;  that  on  the  5th  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy 
was  commenced  —  his  dead  were  buried  by  us  — 
and  the  corps  of  our  army,  upon  various  roads, 
moved  from  the  battlefield. 

With  a  statement  of  some  of  the  results  of  the 
battle,  as  to  losses  and  captures,  and  of  what  I 
saw  in  riding  over  the  field,  when  the  enemy  was 
gone,  my  account  is  done. 

Our  own  losses  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing 
I  estimate  at  twenty-three  thousand.  Of  the 
"missing"  the  larger  proportion  were  prisoners,  lost 
on  the  1  st  of  July.  Our  loss  in  prisoners,  not 
wounded,  probably  was  four  thousand.  The 
losses  were  distributed  among  the  different  army 
corps  about  as  follows:  In  the  Second  Corps, 
which  sustained  the  heaviest  loss  of  any  corps,  a 
little  over  four  thousand  five  hundred,  of  whom 
the  missing  were  a  mere  nominal  number;  in  the 
First  Corps  a  little  over  four  thousand,  of  whom  a 
great  many  were  missing;  in  the  Third  Corps  four 
thousand,  of  whom  some  were  missing;  in  the 
Eleventh  Corps  nearly  four  thousand,  of  whom 
the  most  were  missing;  and  the  rest  of  the  loss,  to 

make  the  aggregate  mentioned,  was  shared  by  the 

[142] 


GETTYSBURG 

Fifth,  Sixth  and  Twelfth  Corps  and  the  cavalry. 
Among  these  the  missing  were  few;  and  the  losses 
of  the  Sixth  Corps  and  of  the  cavalry  were  light. 
I  do  not  think  the  official  reports  will  show  my  es 
timate  of  our  losses  to  be  far  from  correct,  for  I 
have  taken  great  pains  to  question  staff  officers 
upon  the  subject,  and  have  learned  approximate 
numbers  from  them.  We  lost  no  gun  or  flag  that 
I  have  heard  of  in  all  the  battle.  Some  small 
arms,  I  suppose,  were  lost  on  the  1  st  of  July. 

The  enemy's  loss  in  killed,  wounded  and  pris 
oners  I  estimate  at  forty  thousand,  and  from  the 
following  data  and  for  the  following  reasons: 
So  far  as  I  can  learn  we  took  ten  thousand  prison 
ers,  who  were  not  wounded  —  many  more  than 
these  were  captured,  but  several  thousands  of  them 
were  wounded.  I  have  so  far  as  practicable  as 
certained  the  number  of  dead  the  enemy  left  upon 
the  field,  approximately,  by  getting  the  reports  of 
different  burying  parties.  I  think  his  dead  upon 
the  field  were  five  thousand,  almost  all  of  whom, 
save  those  killed  on  the  first  of  July,  were  buried 
by  us  —  the  enemy  not  having  them  in  their  pos 
session.  In  looking  at  a  great  number  of  tables 

[143] 


FRANK    A.    HASKELL 

of  killed  and  wounded  in  battles  I  have  found  that 
the  proportion  of  the  killed  to  the  wounded  is  as 
one  to  five,  or  more  than  five,  rarely  less  than  five. 
So  with  the  killed  at  the  number  stated,  twenty- 
fve  thousand  mentioned.  I  think  fourteen  thou 
sand  of  the  enemy,  wounded  and  unwounded,  fell 
into  our  hands.  Great  numbers  of  his  small  arms, 
two  or  three  guns,  and  forty  or  more — was  there 
ever  such  bannered  harvest? — of  his  regimental 
battle-flags,  were  captured  by  us.  Some  day  pos 
sibly  we  may  learn  the  enemy's  loss,  but  I  doubt  if 
he  will  ever  tell  truly  how  many  flags  he  did  not 
take  home  with  him.  I  have  great  confidence 
however  in  my  estimates,  for  they  have  been  care 
fully  made,  and  after  much  inquiry,  and  with  no 
desire  or  motive  to  overestimate  the  enemy's  loss. 

The  magnitude  of  the  armies  engaged,  the 
number  of  the  casualties,  the  object  sought  by  the 
Rebel,  the  result,  will  all  contribute  to  give 
Gettysburg  a  place  among  the  great  historic  bat 
tles  of  the  world.  That  General  Meade's  con 
centration  was  rapid  —  over  thirty  miles  a  day 
was  marched  by  some  of  the  Corps  —  that  his 
position  was  skillfully  selected  and  his  dispositions 

[  144] 


GETTYSBURG 

good ;  that  he  fought  the  battle  hard  and  well ; 
that  his  victory  was  brilliant  and  complete,  I  think 
all  should  admit.  I  cannot  but  regard  it  as  highly 
fortunate  to  us  and  commendable  in  General 
Meade,  that  the  enemy  was  allowed  the  initiative, 
the  offensive,  in  the  main  battle;  that  it  was  much 
better  to  allow  the  Rebel,  for  his  own  destruction, 
to  come  up  and  smash  his  lines  and  columns  upon 
the  defensive  solidity  of  our  position,  than  it 
would  have  been  to  hunt  him,  for  the  same  pur 
pose,  in  the  woods,  or  to  unearth  him  from  his 
rifle-pits.  In  this  manner  our  losses  were  lighter, 
and  his  heavier,  than  if  the  case  had  been  re 
versed.  And  whatever  the  books  may  say  of 
troops  fighting  the  better  who  make  the  attack,  I 
am  satisfied  that  in  this  war,  Americans,  the 
Rebels,  as  well  as  ourselves,  are  best  on  the  defen 
sive.  The  proposition  is  deducible  from  the  bat 
tles  of  the  war,  I  think,  and  my  own  observation 
confirms  it. 

But  men  there  are  who  think  that  nothing  was 
gained  or  done  well  in  this  battle,  because  some 
other  general  did  not  have  the  command,  or  be 
cause  any  portion  of  the  army  of  the  enemy  was 

[145] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

permitted  to  escape  capture  or  destruction.  As 
if  one  army  of  a  hundred  thousand  men  could  en 
counter  another  of  the  same  number  of  as  good 
troops  and  annihilate  it!  Military  men  do  not 
claim  or  expect  this ;  but  the  McClellan  destroy 
ers  do,  the  doughty  knights  of  purchasable  news 
paper  quills;  the  formidable  warriors  from  the 
brothels  of  politics,  men  of  much  warlike  experi 
ence  against  honesty  and  honor,  of  profound  at 
tainments  in  ignorance,  who  have  the  maxims  of 
Napoleon,  whose  spirit  they  as  little  understand  as 
they  do  most  things,  to  quote,  to  prove  all  things; 
but  who,  unfortunately,  have  much  influence  in 
the  country  and  with  the  Government,  and  so  over 
the  army.  It  is  very  pleasant  for  these  people,  no 
doubt,  at  safe  distances  from  guns,  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  a  lucrative  office,  or  of  a  fraudulently  ob 
tained  government  contract,  surrounded  by  the 
luxuries  of  their  own  firesides,  where  mud  and 
flooding  storms,  and  utter  weariness  never  pene 
trate,  to  discourse  of  battles  and  how  campaigns 
should  be  conducted  and  armies  of  the  enemy  de 
stroyed.  But  it  should  be  enough,  perhaps,  to 

say  that  men  here,  or  elsewhere,  who  have  knowl- 

[146] 


GETTYSBURG 

edge  enough  of  military  affairs  to  entitle  them  to 
express  an  opinion  on  such  matters,  and  accurate 
information  enough  to  realize  the  nature  and  the 
means  of  this  desired  destruction  of  Lee's  army  be 
fore  it  crossed  the  Potomac  into  Virginia,  will  be 
most  likely  to  vindicate  the  Pennsylvania  cam 
paign  of  Gen.  Meade,  and  to  see  that  he  accom 
plished  all  that  could  have  been  reasonably  ex 
pected  of  any  general  of  any  army.  Complaint 
has  been,  and  is,  made  specially  against  Meade, 
that  he  did  not  attack  Lee  near  Williamsport  be 
fore  he  had  time  to  withdraw  across  the  river. 
These  were  the  facts  concerning  this  matter: 

The  1 3th  of  July  was  the  earliest  day  when 
such  an  attack,  if  practicable  at  all,  could  have 
been  made.  The  time  before  this,  since  the  bat 
tle,  had  been  spent  in  moving  the  army  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  field,  finding  something  of  the 
enemy  and  concentrating  before  him.  On  that 
day  the  army  was  concentrated  and  in  order  of 
battle  near  the  turnpike  that  leads  from  Sharps- 
burg  to  Hagerstown,  Md.,  the  right  resting  at  or 
near  the  latter  place,  the  left  near  Jones'  cross 
roads,  some  six  miles  in  the  direction  of  Sharps- 

[147] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

burg,  and  in  the  following  order  from  left  to  right: 
the  1 2th  corps,  the  2d,  the  5th,  the  6th,  the  1  st,  the 
llth;  the  3d  being  in  reserve  behind  the  2d. 
The  mean  distance  to  the  Potomac  was  some  six 
miles,  and  the  enemy  was  between  Meade  and  the 
river.  The  Potomac,  swelled  by  the  recent  rain, 
was  boiling  and  swift  and  deep,  a  magnificent 
place  to  have  drowned  all  the  Rebel  crew.  I 
have  not  the  least  doubt  but  that  Gen.  Meade 
would  have  liked  to  drown  them  all,  if  he  could, 
but  they  were  unwilling  to  be  drowned,  and 
would  fight  first.  To  drive  them  into  the  river 
then,  they  must  be  routed.  Gen.  Meade,  I  be 
lieve,  favored  an  attack  upon  the  enemy  at  that 
time,  and  he  summoned  his  corps  commanders  to  a 
council  upon  the  subject.  The  1  st  corps  was  rep 
resented  by  William  Hayes,  the  3d  by  French, 
the  5th  by  Sykes,  the  6th  by  Sedgwick,  the  1  1  th 
by  Howard,  the  12th  by  Slocum,  and  the  Cav 
alry  by  Pleasanton.  Of  the  eight  generals  there, 
Wadsworth,  Howard  and  Pleasanton  were  in 
favor  of  immediate  attack,  and  five,  Hayes, 
French,  Sykes,  Sedgwick  and  Slocum  were  not 
in  favor  of  attack  until  better  information  was  ob- 

[148] 


GETTYSBURG 

tained  of  the  position  and  situation  of  the  enemy. 
Of  the  pros  Wadsworth  only  temporarily  repre 
sented  the  1  st  corps  in  the  brief  absence  of  New 
ton,  who,  had  a  battle  occurred,  would  have  com 
manded.  Pleasanton,  with  his  horses,  would 
have  been  a  spectator  only,  and  Howard,  with  the 
brilliant  I  Ith  corps,  would  have  been  trusted  no 
where  but  a  safe  distance  from  the  enemy  —  not 
by  Gen.  Howard's  fault,  however,  for  he  is  a 
good  and  brave  man.  Such  was  the  position  of 
those  who  felt  sanguinarily  inclined.  Of  the 
cons  were  all  of  the  fighting  generals  of  the  fight 
ing  corps,  save  the  1  st.  This,  then,  was  the  feel 
ing  of  these  generals  —  all  who  would  have  had 
no  responsibility  or  part  in  all  probability,  han- 
Jeered  for  a  fight  —  those  who  would  have  had 
both  part  and  responsibility,  did  not.  The  attack 
was  not  made.  At  daylight  on  the  morning  of 
the  1 4th,  strong  reconnoissances  from  the  1 2th,  2d 
and  5th  corps  were  the  means  of  discovering  that 
between  the  enemy,  except  a  thousand  or  fifteen 
hundred  of  his  rear  guard,  who  fell  into  our 
hands,  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  rolled  the 
rapid,  unbridged  river.  The  Rebel  General, 

[  149] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

Pettigrew,  was  here  killed.  The  enemy  had 
constructed  bridges,  had  crossed  during  all  the 
preceding  night,  but  so  close  were  our  cavalry  and 
infantry  upon  him  in  the  morning,  that  the  bridges 
were  destroyed  before  his  rear  guard  had  all 
crossed. 

Among  the  considerations  influencing  these 
generals  against  the  propriety  of  attack  at  that 
time,  were  probably  the  following:  The  army 
was  wearied  and  worn  down  by  four  weeks  of 
constant  forced  marching  or  battle,  in  the  midst  of 
heat,  mud  and  drenching  showers,  burdened  with 
arms,  accoutrements,  blankets,  sixty  to  a  hundred 
cartridges,  and  five  to  eight  days'  rations.  What 
such  weariness  means  few  save  soldiers  know. 
Since  the  battle  the  army  had  been  constantly 
diminished  by  sickness  or  prostration  and  by  more 
straggling  than  I  ever  saw  before.  Poor  fellows 
-they  could  not  help  it.  The  men  were  near 
the  point  when  further  efficient  physical  exertion 
was  quite  impossible.  Even  the  sound  of  the  skir 
mishing,  which  was  almost  constant,  and  the  ex 
citement  of  impending  battle,  had  no  effect  to 
arouse  for  an  hour  the  exhibition  of  their  wonted 

[150] 


GETTYSBURG 

former  vigor.  The  enemy's  loss  in  battle,  it  is 
true,  had  been  far  heavier  than  ours ;  but  his  arm)7 
was  less  weary  than  ours,  for  in  a  given  time  since 
the  first  of  the  campaign,  it  had  marched  far  less 
and  with  lighter  loads.  These  Rebels  are  accus 
tomed  to  hunger  and  nakedness,  customs  to  which 
our  men  do  not  take  readily.  And  the  enemy 
had  straggled  less,  for  the  men  were  going  away 
from  battle  and  towards  home,  and  for  them  to 
straggle  was  to  go  into  captivity,  whose  end  they 
could  not  conjecture.  The  enemy  was  some 
where  in  position  in  a  ridgy,  wooded  country, 
abounding  in  strong  defensive  positions,  his  maia 
bodies  concealed,  protected  by  rifle-pits  and 
epaulements,  acting  strictly  on  the  defensive. 
His  dispositions,  his  position  even,  with  any  con 
siderable  degree  of  accuracy  was  unknown,  nor 
could  they  be  known  except  by  reconnoisances  in 
such  force,  and  carried  to  such  extent,  as  would 
have  constituted  them  attacks  liable  to  bring  on  at 
any  moment  a  general  engagement,  and  at  places 
where  we  were  least  prepared  and  least  likely  to 
be  successful.  To  have  had  a  battle  there  then, 
Gen.  Meade  would  have  had  to  attack  a  cunning 

[151] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

enemy  in  the  dark,  where  surprises,  undiscovered 
rifle-pits  and  batteries,  and  unseen  bodies  of  men 
might  have  met  his  forces  at  every  point.  With 
his  not  greatly  superior  numbers,  under  such  cir 
cumstances  had  Gen.  Meade  attacked,  would  he 
have  been  victorious?  The  vote  of  these  generals 
at  the  council  shows  their  opinion  —  my  own  is 
that  he  would  have  been  repulsed  with  heavy  loss 
with  little  damage  to  the  enemy.  Such  a  result 
might  have  satisfied  the  bloody  politicians  better 
than  the  end  of  the  campaign  as  it  was;  but  I  think 
the  country  did  not  need  that  sacrifice  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  at  that  time  —  that  enough  odor 
of  sacrifice  came  up  to  its  nostrils  from  the  1  st 
Fredericksbtirg  field,  to  stop  their  snuffing  for 
some  time.  I  felt  the  probability  of  defeat 
strongly  at  the  time,  when  we  all  supposed  that  a 
conflict  would  certainly  ensue ;  for  always  before 
a  battle — at  least  it  so  happens  to  me  —  some  dim 
presentiment  of  results,  some  unaccountable  fore 
shadowing  pervades  the  army.  I  never  knew  the 
result  to  prove  it  untrue,  which  rests  with  the 
weight  of  a  conviction.  Whether  such  shadows 
are  cause  or  consequence,  I  shall  not  pretend  to  de- 

[152] 


GETTYSBURG 

termine;  but  when,  as  they  often  are,  they  are  gen 
eral,  I  think  they  should  not  be  wholly  disregarded 
by  the  commander.  I  believe  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  is  always  willing,  often  eager,  to  fight 
the  enemy,  whenever,  as  it  thinks,  there  is  a  fair 
chance  for  victory;  that  it  always  will  fight,  let 
come  victory  or  defeat  whenever  it  is  ordered  so  to 
do.  Of  course  the  army,  both  officers  and  men, 
had  very  great  disappointment  and  very  great  sor 
row  that  the  Rebels  escaped  —  so  it  was  called  — 
across  the  river;  the  disappointment  was  genuine, 
at  least  to  the  extent  that  disappointment  is  like 
surprise;  but  the  sorrow  to  judge  by  looks,  tones 
and  actions,  rather  than  by  words,  was  not  of  that 
deep,  sable  character  for  which  there  is  no  balm. 

Would  it  be  an  imputation  upon  the  courage  or 
patriotism  of  this  army  if  it  was  not  rampant  for 
fight  at  this  particular  time  and  under  the  existing 
circumstances?  Had  the  enemy  stayed  upon  the 
left  bank  of  the  Potomac  twelve  hours  longer, 
there  would  have  been  a  great  battle  there  near 
Williamsport  on  the  1 4th  of  July. 

After  such  digression,  if  such  it  is,  I  return  to 
Gettysburg. 

*n  [153] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

As  good  generalship  is  claimed  for  Gen. 
Meade  in  the  battle,  so  was  the  conduct  of  his 
subordinate  commanders  good.  I  know,  and 
have  heard,  of  no  bad  conduct  or  blundering  on 
the  part  of  any  officer,  save  that  of  Sickles,  on  the 
2d  of  July,  and  that  was  so  gross,  and  came  so 
near  being  the  cause  of  irreparable  disaster  that  I 
cannot  discuss  it  with  moderation.  I  hope  the 
man  may  never  return  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  or  elsewhere,  to  a  position  where  his  in 
capacity,  or  something  worse,  may  bring  fruitless 
> destruction  to  thousands  again.  The  conduct  of 
officers  and  men  was  good.  The  1 1  th  corps  be 
haved  badly ;  but  I  have  yet  to  learn  the  occasion 
when,  in  the  opinion  of  any  save  their  own  officers 
and  themselves,  the  men  of  this  corps  have  be 
haved  well  on  the  march  or  before  the  enemy, 
either  under  Siegel  or  any  other  commander. 
With  this  exception,  and  some  minor  cases  of  very 
little  consequence  in  the  general  result,  our  troops 
whenever  and  wherever  the  enemy  came,  stood 
against  them  storms  of  impassable  fire.  Such  was 
the  infantry,  such  the  artillery  —  the  cavalry  did 
less  but  it  did  all  that  was  required. 

[154] 


GETTYSBURG 

The  enemy,  too,  showed  a  determination  and 
valor  worthy  of  a  better  cause.  Their  conduct  in 
this  battle  even  makes  me  proud  of  them  as 
Americans.  They  would  have  been  victorious 
over  any  but  the  best  of  soldiers.  Lee  and  his 
generals  presumed  too  much  upon  some  past  suc 
cesses,  and  did  not  estimate  how  much  they  were 
due  on  their  part  to  position,  as  at  Fredericksburg, 
or  on  our  part  to  bad  generalship,  as  at  the  2d  Bull 
Run  and  Chancellorsville. 

The  fight  of  the  1  st  of  July  we  do  not,  of 
course,  claim  as  a  victory ;  but  even  that  probably 
would  have  resulted  differently  had  Reynolds  not 
been  struck.  The  success  of  the  enemy  in  the 
battle  ended  with  the  1  st  of  July.  The  Rebels 
were  joyous  and  jubilant  —  so  said  our  men  in 
their  hands,  and  the  citizens  of  Gettysburg  —  at 
their  achievements  on  that  day.  Fredericksburg 
and  Chancellorsville  were  remembered  by  them. 
They  saw  victory  already  won,  or  only  to  be 
snatched  from  the  streaming  coat-tails  of  the  1  1  th 
corps,  or  the  "raw  Pennsylvania  militia9'  as  they 
thought  they  were,  when  they  saw  them  run;  and 
already  the  spires  of  Baltimore  and  the  dome  of 

[155] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

the  National  Capitol  were  forecast  upon  their  glad 
vision  —  only  two  or  three  days  march  away 
through  the  beautiful  valleys  of  Pennsylvania  and 
"my"  Maryland.  Was  there  ever  anything  so 
fine  before?  How  splendid  it  would  be  to  enjoy 
the  poultry  and  the  fruit,  the  meats,  the  cakes,  the 
beds,  the  clothing,  the  Whiskey,  without  price  in 
this  rich  land  of  the  Yankee!  It  would,  indeed! 
But  on  the  2d  of  July  something  of  a  change  came 
over  the  spirit  of  these  dreams.  They  were  sur 
prised  at  results  and  talked  less  and  thought  more 
as  they  prepared  supper  that  night.  After  the 
fight  of  the  3d  they  talked  only  of  the  means  of 
their  own  safety  from  destruction.  Pickett's 
splendid  division  had  been  almost  annihilated, 
they  said,  and  they  talked  not  of  how  many  were 
lost,  but  of  who  had  escaped.  They  talked  of 
these  "Yanks"  that  had  clubs  on  their  flags  and 
caps,  the  trefoils  of  the  2d  corps  that  are  like  clubs 
in  cards. 

The  battle  of  Gettysburg  is  distinguished  in  this 
war,  not  only  as  by  far  the  greatest  and  severest 
conflict  that  has  occurred,  but  for  some  other  things 
that  I  may  mention.  The  fight  of  the  2d  of  July, 

[156] 


GETTYSBURG 

on  the  left,  which  was  almost  a  separate  and  com 
plete  battle,  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  alone  in  the  fol 
lowing  particulars:  the  numbers  of  men  actually 
engaged  at  one  time,  and  the  enormous  losses  that 
occurred  in  killed  and  wounded  in  the  space  of 
about  two  hours.  If  the  truth  could  be  obtained, 
it  would  probably  show  a  much  larger  number  of 
casualties  in  this  than  my  estimate  in  a  former  part 
of  these  sheets.  Few  battles  of  the  war  that  have 
had  so  many  casualties  altogther  as  those  of  the 
two  hours  on  the  2d  of  July.  The  3d  of  July  is 
distinguished.  Then  occurred  the  "great  can 
nonade"  —  so  we  call  it,  and  so  it  would  be  called 
in  any  war,  and  in  almost  any  battle.  And  be 
sides  this,  the  main  operations  that  followed  have 
few  parallels  in  history,  none  in  this  war,  of  the 
magnitude  and  magnificence  of  the  assault,  single 
and  simultaneous,  the  disparity  of  the  numbers  en 
gaged,  and  the  brilliancy,  completeness  and  over 
whelming  character  of  the  result  in  favor  of  the 
side  numerically  the  weaker.  I  think  I  have  not, 
in  giving  the  results  of  this  encounter,  overesti 
mated  the  numbers  or  the  losses  of  the  enemy.  We 
learned  on  all  hands,  by  prisoners  and  by  the 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

newspapers,  that  over  two  divisions  moved  up  to 
the  assault  —  Pickett's  and  Pettigrew's —  that 
this  was  the  first  engagement  of  Pickett's  in  the 
battle,  and  the  first  of  Pettigrew's  save  a  light  par 
ticipation  on  the  1st  of  July.  The  Rebel  divi 
sions  usually  number  nine  or  ten  thousand,  or  did 
at  that  time,  as  we  understood.  Then  I  have  seen 
something  of  troops  and  think  I  can  estimate  their 
numbers  somewhat.  The  number  of  the  Rebels 
killed  here  I  have  estimated  in  this  way:  the  2d 
and  3d  divisions  of  the  2d  corps  buried  the  Rebel 
dead  in  their  own  front,  and  where  they  fought 
upon  their  own  grounds,  by  count  they  buried  over 
one  thousand  eight  hundred.  I  think  no  more 
than  about  two  hundred  of  these  were  killed  on 
the  2d  of  July  in  front  of  the  2d  division,  and  the 
rest  must  have  fallen  upon  the  3d.  My  estimates 
that  depend  upon  this  contingency  may  be  errone 
ous,  but  to  no  great  extent.  The  rest  of  the  par 
ticulars  of  the  assault,  our  own  losses  and  our  cap 
tures,  I  know  are  approximately  accurate.  Yet 
the  whole  sounds  like  romance,  a  grand  stage 
piece  of  blood. 

Of  all  the  corps  d'armie,  for  hard  fighting,  se- 
[158] 


GETTYSBURG 

vere  losses  and  brilliant  results,  the  palm  should 
be,  as  by  the  army  it  is,  awarded  to  the  "O/ d  Sec 
ond/'  It  did  more  fighting  than  any  other  corps, 
inflicted  severer  losses  upon  the  enemy  in  killed 
and  wounded,  and  sustained  a  heavier  like  loss, 
and  captured  more  flags  than  all  the  rest  of  the 
army,  and  almost  as  many  prisoners  as  the  rest  of 
the  army.  The  loss  of  the  2d  corps  in  killed  and 
wounded  in  this  battle  —  there  is  no  other  test  of 
hard  fighting  —  was  almost  as  great  as  that  of  all 
Gen.  Grant's  forces  in  the  battle  that  preceded 
and  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  Three-eighths  of 
the  whole  corps  were  killed  and  wounded.  Why 
does  the  Western  Army  suppose  that  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  does  not  fight?  Was  ever  a  more 
absurd  supposition?  The  Army  of  the  Potomac 
is  grand !  Give  it  good  leadership  —  let  it  alone — 
and  it  will  not  fail  to  accomplish  all  that  reason 
able  men  desire. 

Of  Gibbon's  white  trefoil  division,  if  I  am  not 
cautious,  I  shall  speak  too  enthusiastically.  This 
division  has  been  accustomed  to  distinguished 
leadership.  Surnner,  Sedgwick  and  Howard 
have  honored,  and  been  honored  by,  its  command. 

[159] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

It  was  repulsed  under  Sedgwick  at  Antietam  and 
under  Howard  at  Fredericksburg;  it  was  victori 
ous  under  Gibbon  at  the  2d  Fredericksburg  and  at 
Gettysburg.  At  Gettysburg  its  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  was  over  one  thousand  seven  hundred, 
near  one-half  of  all  engaged;  it  captured  seven 
teen  battle-flags  and  two  thousand  three  hundred 
prisoners.  Its  bullets  hailed  on  Pickett's  division, 
and  killed  or  mortally  wounded  four  Rebel  gen 
erals,  Bartysdale  on  the  2d  of  July,  with  the  three 
on  the  3d,  Armstead,  Garnett  and  Kemper.  In 
losses  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  in  captures  from 
the  enemy  of  prisoners  and  flags,  it  stood  pre-emi 
nent  among  all  the  divisions  at  Gettysburg. 

Under  such  generals  as  Hancock  and  Gibbon 
brilliant  results  may  be  expected.  Will  the  coun 
try  remember  them? 

It  is  understood  in  the  army  that  the  President 
thanked  the  slayer  of  Barton  Key  for  saving  the 
day  at  Gettysburg.  Does  the  country  know  any 
better  than  the  President  that  Meade,  Hancock 
and  Gibbon  were  entitled  to  some  little  share  of 
such  credit? 

At  about  six  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  3d 

[160] 


GETTYSBURG 

of  July,  my  duties  done  upon  the  field,  I  quitted  it 
to  go  to  the  General.  My  brave  horse  Dr'c^ — 
poor  creature,  his  good  conduct  in  the  battle  that 
afternoon  had  been  complimented  by  a  Briga 
dier —  was  a  sight  to  see.  He  was  literally  cov 
ered  with  blood.  Struck  repeatedly,  his  right 
thigh  had  been  ripped  open  in  a  ghastly  manner 
by  a  piece  of  shell,  and  three  bullets  were  lodged 
deep  in  his  body,  and  from  his  wounds  the  blood 
oozed  and  ran  down  his  sides  and  legs  and  with 
the  sweat  formed  a  bloody  foam.  Dick's  was  no 
mean  part  in  that  battle.  Good  conduct  in  men 
under  such  circumstances  as  he  was  placed  in 
might  result  from  a  sense  of  duty  —  his  was  the 
result  of  his  bravery.  Most  horses  would  have 
been  unmanageable  with  the  flash  and  roar  of  arms 
about  and  the  shouting.  Dick  was  utterly  cool, 
and  would  have  obeyed  the  rein  had  it  been  a 
straw.  To  Dick  belongs  the  honor  of  first  mount 
ing  that  stormy  crest  before  the  enemy,  not  forty 
yards  away,  whose  bullets  smote  him,  and  of  be 
ing  the  only  horse  there  during  the  heat  of  the  bat 
tle.  Even  the  enemy  noticed  Dick,  and  one  of 
their  reports  of  the  battle  mentions  the  "solitary 

[161] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

horseman9  who  rallied  our  wavering  line.  He 
enabled  me  to  do  twelve  times  as  much  as  I  could 
have  done  on  foot.  It  would  not  be  dignified  for 
an  officer  on  foot  to  run ;  it  is  entirely  so,  mounted, 
to  gallop.  I  do  not  approve  of  officers  dismount 
ing  in  battle,  which  is  the  time  of  all  when  they 
most  need  to  be  mounted,  for  thereby  they  have  so 
much  greater  facilities  for  being  everywhere  pres 
ent.  Most  officers,  however,  in  close  action,  dis 
mount.  Dick  deserves  well  of  his  country,  and 
one  day  should  have  a  horse-monument.  If 
there  be  "ut  sapientibus  placit"  and  equine 
elysium,  I  will  send  to  Charon  the  brass  coin,  the 
fee  for  Dick's  passage  over,  and  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Styx  in  those  shadowy  clover-fields  he  may 
nibble  the  blossoms  forever. 

I  had  been  struck  upon  the  thigh  by  a  bullet 
which  I  think  must  have  glanced  and  partially 
spent  its  force  upon  my  saddle.  It  had  pierced 
the  thick  cloth  of  my  trowsers  and  two  thicknesses 
of  underclothing,  but  had  not  broken  the  skin, 
leaving  me  with  an  enormous  bruise  that  for  a 
time  benumbed  the  entire  leg.  At  the  time  of  re 
ceiving  it,  I  heard  the  thump,  and  noticed  it  and 

[162] 


GETTYSBURG 

the  hole  in  the  cloth  into  which  I  thrust  my  finger, 
and  I  experienced  a  feeling  of  relief  I  am  sure, 
when  I  found  that  my  leg  was  not  pierced.  I 
think  when  I  dismounted  my  horse  after  that  fight 
that  I  was  no  very  comely  specimen  of  humanity. 
Drenched  with  sweat,  the  white  of  battle,  by  the 
reaction,  now  turned  to  burning  red.  I  felt  like 
a  boiled  man ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  exhilira- 
tion  at  results  I  should  have  been  miserable.  This 
kept  me  up,  however,  and  having  found  a  man  to 
transfer  the  saddle  from  poor  Dick,  who  was  now 
disposed  to  lie  down  by  loss  of  blood  and  exhaus 
tion,  to  another  horse,  I  hobbled  on  among  the 
hospitals  in  search  of  Gen.  Gibbon. 

The  skulkers  were  about,  and  they  were  as  loud 
as  any  in  their  rejoicings  at  the  victory,  and  I  took 
a  malicious  pleasure  as  I  went  along  and  met  them, 
in  taunting  the  sneaks  with  their  cowardice  and 
telling  them  —  it  was  not  true  —  that  Gen.  Meade 
had  just  given  the  order  to  the  Provost  Guard  to 
arrest  and  shoot  all  men  they  could  find  away 
from  their  regiments  who  could  not  prove  a  good 
account  of  themselves.  To  find  the  General  was 
no  easy  matter.  I  inquired  for  both  Generals 

[163] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

Hancock  and  Gibbon  —  I  knew  well  enough  that 
they  would  be  together — and  for  the  hospitals  of 
the  2d  corps.  My  search  was  attended  with 
many  incidents  that  were  provokingly  humorous. 
The  stupidity  of  most  men  is  amazing.  I  would 
ask  of  a  man  I  met,"Do  you  know,  sir,  where  the 
2d  corps  hospitals  are?"  "The  12th  corps  hos 
pital  is  there!"  Then  I  would  ask  sharply,  "Did 
you  understand  me  to  ask  for  the  1 2th  corps  hos 
pital?"  "No!"  "Then  why  tell  me  what  I  do 
not  ask  or  care  to  know?"  Then  stupidity  would 
stare  or  mutter  about  the  ingratitude  of  some 
people  for  kindness.  Did  I  ask  for  the  Generals 
I  was  looking  for,  they  would  announce  the  inter 
esting  fact,  in  reply,  that  they  had  seen  some  other 
generals.  Some  were  sure  that  Gen.  Hancock  or 
Gibbon  was  dead.  They  had  seen  his  dead 
body.  This  was  a  falsehood,  and  they  knew  it. 
Then  it  was  Gen.  Longstreet.  This  was  also,  as 
they  knew,  a  falsehood. 

Oh,  sorrowful  was  the  sight  to  see  so  many 
wounded !  The  whole  neighborhood  in  rear  of 
the  field  became  one  vast  hospital  of  miles  in  ex 
tent.  Some  could  walk  to  the  hospitals ;  such  as 

[164] 


GETTYSBURG 

could  not  were  taken  upon  stretchers  from  the 
places  where  they  fell  to  selected  points  and 
thence  the  ambulance  bore  them,  a  miserable  load, 
to  their  destination.  Many  were  brought  to  the 
building,  along  the  Taneytown  road,  and  too 
badly  wounded  to  be  carried  further,  died  and 
were  buried  there,  Union  and  Rebel  soldiers  to 
gether.  At  every  house,  and  barn,  and  shed  the 
wounded  were;  by  many  a  cooling  brook,  or  many 
a  shady  slope  or  grassy  glade,  the  red  flags 
beckoned  them  to  their  tented  asylums,  and  there 
they  gathered,  in  numbers  a  great  army,  a  mu 
tilated,  bruised  mass  of  humanity.  Men  with 
gray  hair  and  furrowed  cheeks  and  soft-lipped, 
beardless  boys  were  there,  for  these  bullets  have 
made  no  distinction  between  age  and  youth. 
Every  conceivable  wound  that  iron  and  lead  can 
make,  blunt  or  sharp,  bullet,  ball  and  shell,  pierc 
ing,  bruising,  tearing,  was  there;  sometimes  so 
light  that  a  bandage  and  cold  water  would  restore 
the  soldier  to  the  ranks  again ;  sometimes  so  severe 
that  the  poor  victim  in  his  hopeless  pain,  remedy- 
less  save  by  the  only  panacea  for  all  mortal  suffer 
ing,  invoked  that.  The  men  are  generally  cheer- 

[165] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

ful,  and  even  those  with  frightful  wounds,  often 
are  talking  with  animated  faces  of  nothing  but  the 
battle  and  the  victory.  But  some  are  downcast, 
their  faces  distorted  with  pain.  Some  have  un 
dergone  the  surgeon's  work;  some,  like  men  at  a 
ticket  office,  await  impatiently  their  turn  to  have 
an  arm  or  a  leg  cut  off.  Some  walk  about  with  an 
arm  in  a  sling;  some  sit  idly  upon  the  ground; 
some  lie  at  full  length  upon  a  little  straw,  or  a 
blanket,  with  their  brawny,  now  blood-stained, 
limbs  bare,  and  you  may  see  where  the  minie  bul 
let  has  struck  or  the  shell  has  torn.  From  a  small 
round  hole  upon  many  a  manly  breast,  the  red 
blood  trickles,  but  the  pallid  cheek,  the  hard- 
drawn  breath  and  dim  closed  eyes  tell  how  near 
the  source  of  life  it  has  gone.  The  surgeons,  with 
coats  off  and  sleeves  rolled  up,  and  the  hospital 
attendants  with  green  bands  upon  their  caps,  are 
about  their  work;  and  their  faces  and  clothes  are 
spattered  with  blood;  and  though  they  look  weary 
and  tired,  their  work  goes  systematically  and 
steadily  on.  How  much  and  how  long  they  have 
worked,  the  piles  of  legs,  arms,  feet,  hands,  and 
fingers  about  partially  tell.  Such  sounds  are 

[166] 


GETTYSBURG 

heard  sometimes  —  you  would  not  have  heard 
them  upon  the  field  —  as  convince  that  bodies, 
bones,  sinews  and  muscles  are  not  made  of  insen 
sible  stone.  Near  by  appear  a  row  of  small  fresh 
mounds,  placed  side  by  side.  They  were  not 
there  day  before  yesterday.  They  will  become 
more  numerous  every  day. 

Such  things  I  saw  as  I  rode  along.  At  last  I 
found  the  Generals.  Gen.  Gibbon  was  sitting  on 
a  chair  that  had  been  borrowed  somewhere,  with 
his  wounded  shoulder  bare,  and  an  attendant  was 
bathing  it  with  cold  water.  Gen.  Hancock  was 
near  by  in  an  ambulance.  They  were  at  the  tents 
of  the  Second  Corps  hospitals,  which  were  on 
Rock  Run.  As  I  approached  Gen.  Gibbon,  when 
he  saw  me,  he  began  to  hurrah  and  wave  his  right 
hand.  He  had  heard  the  result.  I  said:  "O, 
General,  long  and  well  may  you  wave"  -and  he 
shook  me  warmly  by  the  hand.  Gen.  Gibbon 
was  struck  by  a  bullet  in  the  left  shoulder,  which 
had  passed  from  the  front  through  the  flesh  and 
out  behind,  fracturing  the  shoulder  blade  and  in 
flicting  a  severe  but  not  dangerous  wound.  He 
thinks  he  was  the  mark  of  a  sharpshooter  of  the 

[167] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

enemy  hid  in  the  bushes,  near  where  he  and  I  had 
sat  so  long  during  the  cannonade;  and  he  was 
wounded  and  taken  off  the  field  before  the  fire  of 
the  main  lines  of  infantry  had  commenced,  he  be 
ing  at  the  time  he  was  hit  near  the  left  of  his  divi 
sion.  Gen.  Hancock  was  struck  a  little  later  near 
the  same  part  of  the  field  by  a  bullet,  piercing  and 
almost  going  through  his  thigh,  without  touching 
the  bone,  however.  His  wound  was  severe,  also. 
He  was  carried  back  out  of  range,  but  before  he 
would  be  carried  off  the  field,  he  lay  upon  the 
ground  in  sight  of  the  crest,  where  he  could  see 
something  of  the  fight,  until  he  knew  what  would 
be  the  result. 

And  then,  at  Gen.  Gibbon's  request,  I  had  to 
tell  him  and  a  large  voluntary  crowd  of  the 
wounded  who  pressed  around  now,  for  the 
wounds  they  showed  not  rebuked  for  closing  up  to 
the  Generals,  the  story  of  the  fight.  I  was  noth 
ing  loth;  and  I  must  say  though  I  used  sometimes 
before  the  war  to  make  speeches,  that  I  never  had 
so  enthusiastic  an  audience  before.  Cries  of 
"good,"  "glorious,"  frequently  interrupted  me, 
and  the  storming  of  the  wall  was  applauded  by 

[168] 


GETTYSBURG 

enthusiastic  tears  and  the  waving  of  battered, 
bloody  hands. 

By  the  custom  of  the  service  the  General  had 
the  right  to  have  me  along  with  him,  while  away 
with  his  wound ;  but  duty  and  inclination  attracted 
me  still  to  the  field,  and  I  obtained  the  General's 
consent  to  stay.  Accompanying  Gen.  Gibbon  to 
Westminster,  the  nearest  point  to  which  railroad 
trains  then  ran,  and  seeing  him  transferred  from  an 
ambulance  to  the  cars  for  Baltimore  on  the  4th, 
the  next  day  I  returned  to  the  field  to  his  division, 
since  his  wounding  in  the  command  of  Gen.  Har 
row. 

On  the  6th  of  July,  while  my  bullet  bruise  was 
yet  too  inflamed  and  sensitive  for  me  to  be  good 
for  much  in  the  way  of  duty  —  the  division  was 
then  halted  for  the  day  some  four  miles  from  the 
field  on  the  Baltimore  turnpike  —  I  could  not  re 
press  the  desire  or  omit  the  opportunity  to  see  again 
where  the  battle  had  been.  With  the  right  stir 
rup  strap  shortened  in  a  manner  to  favor  the  bruised 
leg,  I  could  ride  my  horse  at  a  walk  without  seri 
ous  discomfort.  It  seemed  very  strange  upon  ap 
proaching  the  horse-shoe  crest  again,  not  to  see  it 

[169] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

covered  with  the  thousands  of  troops  and  horses 
and  guns,  but  they  were  all  gone  —  the  armies,  to 
my  seeming,  had  vanished — and  on  that  lovely 
summer  morning  the  stillness  and  silence  of  death 
pervaded  the  localities  where  so  recently  the 
shouts  and  the  cannon  had  thundered.  The  recent 
rains  had  washed  out  many  an  unsightly  spot,  and 
smoothed  many  a  harrowed  trace  of  the  conflict; 
but  one  still  needed  no  guide  save  the  eyes,  to  fol 
low  the  track  of  that  storm,  which  the  storms  of 
heaven  were  powerless  soon  to  entirely  efface. 
The  spade  and  shovel,  so  far  as  a  little  earth  for 
the  human  bodies  would  render  their  task  done, 
had  completed  their  work — a  great  labor,  that. 
But  still  might  see  under  some  concealing  bush,  or 
sheltering  rock,  what  had  once  been  a  man,  and 
the  thousands  of  stricken  horses  still  lay  scattered 
as  they  had  died.  The  scattered  small  arms  and 
the  accoutrements  had  been  collected  and  carried 
away,  almost  all  that  were  of  any  value;  but  great 
numbers  of  bent  and  splintered  muskets,  rent  knap 
sacks  and  haversacks,  bruised  canteens,  shreds  of 
caps,  coats,  trowsers,  of  blue  or  gray  cloth,  worth 
less  belts  and  cartridge  boxes,  torn  blankets,  am- 

[170] 


GETTYSBURG 

munition  boxes,  broken  wheels,  smashed  limbers, 
shattered  gun  carriages,  parts  of  harness,  of  all  that 
men  or  horses  wear  or  use  in  battle,  were  scattered 
broadcast  over  miles  of  the  field.  From  these  one 
could  tell  where  the  fight  had  been  hottest.  The 
rifle-pits  and  epaulements  and  the  trampled  grass 
told  where  the  lines  had  stood,  and  the  batteries  — 
the  former  being  thicker  where  the  enemy  had 
been  than  those  of  our  own  construction.  No  sol 
dier  was  to  be  seen,  but  numbers  of  civilians  and 
boys,  and  some  girls  even,  were  curiously  loitering 
about  the  field,  and  their  faces  showed  not  sadness 
or  horror,  but  only  staring  wonder  or  smirking 
curiosity.  They  looked  for  mementoes  of  the 
battle  to  keep,  they  said;  but  their  furtive  attempts 
to  conceal  an  uninjured  musket  or  an  untorn 
blanket  —  they  had  been  told  that  all  property  left 
here  belonged  to  the  Government  —  showed  that 
the  love  of  gain  was  an  ingredient  at  least  of  their 
motive  for  coming  here.  Of  course  there  was  not 
the  slightest  objection  to  their  taking  anything  they 
could  find  now ;  but  their  manner  of  doing  it  was 
the  objectionable  thing.  I  could  now  understand 
why  soldiers  had  been  asked  a  dollar  for  a  small 

•12  [171] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

strip  of  old  linen  to  bind  their  own  wound,  and  not 
be  compelled  to  go  off  to  the  hospitals. 

Never  elsewhere  upon  any  field  have  I  seen 
such  abundant  evidences  of  a  terrific  fire  of  cannon 
and  musketry  as  upon  this.  Along  the  enemy's 
position,  where  our  shells  and  shot  had  struck  dur 
ing  the  cannonade  of  the  third,  the  trees  had  cast 
their  trunks  and  branches  as  if  they  had  been 
icicles  shaken  by  a  blast.  And  graves  of  the 
Rebel's  making,  and  dead  horses  and  scattered 
accoutrements,  showed  that  other  things  besides 
rtrees  had  been  struck  by  our  projectiles.  I  must 
say  that,  having  seen  the  work  of  their  guns  upon 
the  same  occasion,  I  was  gratified  to  see  these 
things.  Along  the  slope  of  Gulp's  Hill,  in  front 
of  the  position  of  the  1 2th,  and  the  1  st  Division 
of  the  1  st  Corps,  the  trees  wrere  almost  literally 
peeled,  from  the  ground  up  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
feet,  so  thick  upon  them  were  the  scars  the  bullets 
had  made.  Upon  a  single  tree,  not  over  a  foot 
and  a  half  in  diameter,  I  actually  counted  as  many 
as  two  hundred  and  fifty  bullet  marks.  The 
ground  was  covered  by  the  little  twigs  that  had 
been  cut  off  by  the  hailstorm  of  lead.  Such  were 

[172] 


GETTYSBURG 

the  evidences  of  the  storm  under  which  Swell's 
bold  Rebels  assaulted  our  breastworks  on  the 
night  of  the  2d  and  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  July. 
And  those  works  looked  formidable,  zig-zaging 
along  these  rocky  crests,  even  now  when  not  a 
musket  was  behind  them.  What  madness  on  the 
part  of  the  enemy  to  have  attacked  them!  All 
along  through  these  bullet-stormed  woods  were 
interspersed  little  patches  of  fresh  earth,  raised  a 
foot  or  so  above  the  surrounding  ground.  Some 
were  very  near  the  front  of  the  works;  and  near 
by,  upon  a  tree  whose  bark  had  been  smoothed  by 
an  axe,  written  in  red  chalk  would  be  the  words, 
not  in  fine  handwriting,  "75  Rebels  buried  here." 
ISF  54  Rebs.  there."  And  so  on.  Such 
was  the  burial  and  such  the  epitaph  of  many  ot 
those  famous  men,  once  led  by  the  mighty  Stone 
wall  Jackson.  Oh,  this  damned  rebellion  will 
make  brutes  of  us  all,  if  it  is  not  soon  quelled! 
Our  own  men  were  buried  in  graves,  not  trenches ; 
and  upon  a  piece  of  board,  or  stave  of  a  barrel, 
or  bit  of  cracker  box,  placed  at  the  head,  were 
neatly  cut  or  penciled  the  name  and  regiment  of 
the  one  buried  in  such.  This  practice  was  gen- 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

eral,  but  of  course  there  must  be  some  exceptions, 
for  sometimes  the  cannon's  load  had  not  left 
enough  of  a  man  to  recognize  or  name.  The  rea 
sons  here  for  the  more  careful  interment  of  our  own 
dead  than  such  as  was  given  to  the  dead  of  the 
enemy  are  obvious  and  I  think  satisfactory.  Our 
own  dead  were  usually  buried  not  long  after  they 
fell,  and  without  any  general  order  to  that  effect. 
It  was  a  work  that  the  men's  hearts  were  in  as  soon 
as  the  fight  was  over  and  opportunity  offered,  to 
hunt  out  their  dead  companions,  to  make  them  a 
grave  in  some  convenient  spot,  and  decently  com 
posed  with  their  blankets  wrapped  about  them,  to 
cover  them  tenderly  with  earth  and  mark  their  rest 
ing  place.  Such  burials  were  not  without  as 
scalding  tears  as  ever  fell  upon  the  face  of  coffined 
mortality.  The  dead  of  the  enemy  could  not  be 
buried  until  after  the  close  of  the  whole  battle. 
The  army  was  about  to  move  —  some  of  it  was  al 
ready  upon  the  march,  before  such  burial  com 
menced.  Tools,  save  those  carried  by  the 
pioneers,  were  many  miles  away  with  the  train, 
and  the  burying  parties  were  required  to  make  all 
haste  in  their  work,  in  order  to  be  ready  to  move 


GETTYSBURG 

with  their  regiments.  To  make  long  shallow 
trenches,  to  collect  the  Rebel  dead,  often  hun 
dreds  in  one  place,  and  to  cover  them  hastily  with 
a  little  earth,  without  name,  number,  or  mark,  save 
the  shallow  mound  above  them  —  their  names  of 
course  they  did  not  know  —  was  the  best  that 
could  be  done.  I  should  have  been  glad  to  have 
seen  more  formal  burial,  even  of  these  men  of  the 
rebellion,  both  because  hostilities  should  cease 
with  death,  and  of  the  respect  I  have  for  them  as 
my  brave,  though  deluded,  countrymen.  I  found 
fault  with  such  burial  at  the  time,  though  I  knew 
that  the  best  was  done  that  could  be  under  the  cir 
cumstances;  but  it  may  perhaps  soften  somewhat 
the  rising  feelings  upon  this  subject,  of  any  who 
may  be  disposed  to  share  mine,  to  remember  that 
under  similar  circumstances  —  had  the  issue  of  the 
battle  been  reversed  —  our  own  dead  would  have 
had  no  burial  at  all,  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
but,  stripped  of  their  clothing,  their  naked  bodies 
would  have  been  left  to  rot,  and  their  bones  to 
whiten  upon  the  top  of  the  ground  where  they  fell. 
Plenty  of  such  examples  of  Rebel  magnanimity 
are  not  wanting,  and  one  occurred  on  this  field, 

[1751 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

too.  Our  dead  that  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  on  the  1  st  of  July  had  been  plundered  of 
all  their  clothing,  but  they  were  left  unburied  un 
til  our  own  men  buried  them  after  the  Rebels  had 
retreated  at  the  end  of  the  battle. 

All  was  bustle  and  noise  in  the  little  town  of 
Gettysburg  as  I  entered  it  on  my  tour  of  the  field. 
From  the  afternoon  of  the  1  st  to  the  morning  of  the 
4th  of  July,  the  enemy  was  in  possession.  Very 
many  of  the  inhabitants  had,  upon  the  first  ap 
proach  of  the  enemy,  or  upon  the  retirement  of  our 
troops,  fled  their  homes  and  the  town  not  to  return 
until  after  the  battle.  Now  the  town  was  a  hos 
pital  where  gray  and  blue  mingled  in  about  equal 
proportion.  The  public  buildings,  the  court 
house,  the  churches  and  many  private  dwellings 
were  full  of  wounded.  There  had  been  in  some 
of  the  streets  a  good  deal  of  fighting,  and  bullets 
had  thickly  spattered  the  fences  and  walls,  and 
shells  had  riddled  the  houses  from  side  to  side. 
And  the  Rebels  had  done  their  work  of  pillage 
there,  too,  in  spite  of  the  smooth-sounding  general 
order  of  the  Rebel  commander  enjoining  a  sacred 
regard  for  private  property  —  the  order  was  really 

[176] 


GETTYSBURG 

good  and  would  sound  marvelously  well  abroad 
or  in  history.  All  stores  of  drugs  and  medicines, 
of  clothing,  tin-ware  and  all  groceries  had  been 
rifled  and  emptied  without  pay  or  offer  of  recom 
pense.  Libraries,  public  and  private,  had  been 
entered  and  the  books  scattered  about  the  yards  or 
destroyed.  Great  numbers  of  private  dwellings 
had  been  entered  and  occupied  without  ceremony 
and  whatever  was  liked  had  been  appropriated  or 
wantonly  destroyed.  Furniture  had  been  smashed 
and  beds  ripped  open,  and  apparently  unlicensed 
pillage  had  reigned.  Citizens  and  women  who 
had  remained  had  been  kindly  relieved  of  their 
money,  their  jewelry  and  their  watches — all  this 
by  the  high-toned  chivalry,  the  army  of  the  mag 
nanimous  Lee !  Put  these  things  by  the  side  of  the 
acts  of  the  "vandal  Yankees"  in  Virginia,  and 
then  let  mad  Rebeldom  prate  of  honor!  But  the 
people,  the  women  and  children  that  had  fled, 
were  returning,  or  had  returned  to  their  homes  - 
such  homes  —  and  amid  the  general  havoc  were 
restoring  as  they  could  order  to  the  desecrated  fire 
sides.  And  the  faces  of  them  all  plainly  told 
that,  with  all  they  had  lost  and  bad  as  was  the 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

condition  of  all  things  they  found,  they  were  bet 
ter  pleased  with  such  homes  than  with  wandering 
houseless  in  the  fields  with  the  Rebels  there.  All 
had  treasures  of  incidents  of  the  battle  and  of  the 
occupation  of  the  enemy — wonderful  sights,  es 
capes,  witnessed  encounters,  wounds,  the  marvel 
ous  passage  of  shells  or  bullets  which,  upon  the 
asking,  or  even  without,  they  were  willing  to  share 
with  the  stranger.  I  heard  of  no  more  than  one 
or  two  cases  of  any  personal  injury  received  by 
any  of  the  inhabitants.  One  woman  was  said  to 
have  been  killed  while  at  her  wash-tub,  sometime 
during  the  battle;  but  probably  by  a  stray  bullet 
coming  a  very  long  distance  from  our  own  men. 
For  the  next  hundred  years  Gettysburg  will  be 
rich  in  legends  and  traditions  of  the  battle.  I 
rode  through  the  Cemetery  on  "Cemetery  Hill." 
How  these  quiet  sleepers  must  have  been 
astounded  in  their  graves  when  the  twenty  pound 
Parrott  guns  thundered  above  them  and  the  solid 
shot  crushed  their  gravestones!  The  flowers,  roses 
and  creeping  vines  that  pious  hands  had  planted 
to  bloom  and  shed  their  odors  over  the  ashes  of 
dead  ones  gone,  were  trampled  upon  the  ground 

[178] 


GETTYSBURG 

and  black  with  the  cannon's  soot.  A  dead  horse 
lay  by  the  marble  shaft,  and  over  it  the  marble 
finger  pointed  to  the  sky.  The  marble  lamb  that 
had  slept  its  white  sleep  on  the  grave  of  a  child, 
now  lies  blackened  upon  a  broken  gun-carriage. 
Such  are  the  incongruities  and  jumblings  of  battle. 

I  looked  away  to  the  group  of  trees — the  Rebel 
gunners  know  what  ones  I  mean,  and  so  do  the 
survivors  of  Pickett's  division  —  and  a  strange  fas 
cination  led  me  thither.  How  thick  are  the  marks 
of  battle  as  I  approach  —  the  graves  of  the  men  of 
the  3d  divison  of  the  2d  corps;  the  splintered  oaks, 
the  scattered  horses  —  seventy-one  dead  horses 
were  on  a  spot  some  fifty  yards  square  near  the 
position  of  Woodruff's  battery,  and  where  he 
fell. 

I  stood  solitary  upon  the  crest  by  "the  trees" 
where,  less  than  three  days  ago,  I  had  stood  be 
fore;  but  now  how  changed  is  all  the  eye  beholds. 
Do  these  thick  mounds  cover  the  fiery  hearts  that 
in  the  battle  rage  swept  the  crest  and  stormed  the 
wall?  I  read  their  names  —  them,  alas,  I  do  not 
know  —  but  I  see  the  regiments  marked  on  their 
frail  monuments  —  "20th  Mass.  Vols.,"  "69 

[179] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

P.  V.,"  "1st  Minn.  Vok,"  and  the  rest— they 
are  all  represented,  and  as  they  fought  commingled 
here.  So  I  am  not  alone.  These,  my  brethren 
of  the  fight,  are  with  me.  Sleep,  noble  brave ! 
The  foe  shall  not  desecrate  your  sleep.  Yonder 
thick  trenches  will  hold  them.  As  long  as  patri 
otism  is  a  virtue,  and  treason  a  crime  your  deeds 
have  made  this  crest,  your  resting  place,  hallowed 
ground ! 

But  I  have  seen  and  said  enough  of  this  battle. 
The  unfortunate  wounding  of  my  General  so  early 
in  the  action  of  the  3d  of  July,  leaving  important 
duties  which,  in  the  unreasoning  excitement  of  the 
moment  I  in  part  assumed,  enabled  me  to  do  for 
the  successful  issue,  something  which  under  other 
circumstances  would  not  have  fallen  to  my  rank  or 
place.  Deploring  the  occasion  for  taking  away 
from  the  division  in  that  moment  of  its  need  its  sol 
dierly,  appropriate  head,  so  cool,  so  clear,  I  am 
yet  glad,  as  that  was  to  be,  that  his  example  and 
his  tuition  have  not  been  entirely  in  vain  to  me, 
and  that  my  impulses  then  prompted  me  to  do 
somewhat  as  he  might  have  done  had  he  been  on 

the  field.     The  encomiums  of  officers,  so  numer- 

[180] 


GETTYSBURG 

ous  and  some  of  so  high  rank,  generously  accorded 
me  for  my  conduct  upon  that  occasion  —  I  am  not 
without  vanity — were  gratifying.     My   position 
as  a  staff  officer  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  see 
much,  perhaps  as  much  as  any  one  person,  of  that 
conflict.     My  observations  were  not  so  particular 
as  if  I  had  been  attached  to  a  smaller  command; 
not  so  general  as  may  have  been  those  of  a  staff 
officer  to  the  General  commanding  the  army;  but 
of  such  as  they  were,  my  heart  was  there,  and  I 
could  do  no  less  than  to  write  something  of  them, 
in  the  intervals  between  marches  and  during  the 
subsequent  repose  of  the  army  at  the  close  of  the 
campaign.    I  have  put  somewhat  upon  these  pages 
-I  make  no  apology  for  the  egotism,  if  such 
there  is,  of  this  account  —  it  is  not  designed  to  be 
a  history,  but  simply  my  account  of  the  battle.     It 
should  not  be  assumed,  if  I  have  told  of  some  oc 
currences,  that  there  were  not  other  important  ones. 
I  would  not  have  it  supposed  that  I  have  attempted 
to  do  full  justice  to  the  good  conduct  of  the  fallen, 
or    the   survivors   of   the    1st   and    12th   Corps. 
Others  must  tell  of  them.     I  did  not  see  their 
work.     A  full  account  of  the  battle  as  it  Was  will 

[181] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

never,  can  never  be  made.  Who  could  sketch  the 
changes,  the  constant  shifting  of  the  bloody  pan 
orama?  It  is  not  possible.  The  official  reports 
may  give  results  as  to  losses,  with  statements  of  at 
tacks  and  repulses ;  they  may  also  note  the  means 
by  which  results  were  attained,  which  is  a  state 
ment  of  the  number  and  kind  of  the  forces  em 
ployed,  but  the  connection  between  means  and  re 
sults,  the  mode,  the  battle  proper,  these  reports 
touch  lightly.  Two  prominent  reasons  at  least 
exist  which  go  far  to  account  for  the  general  in 
adequacy  of  these  official  reports,  or  to  account  for 
their  giving  no  true  idea  of  what  they  assume  to 
describe  —  the  literary  infirmity  of  the  reporters 
and  their  not  seeing  themselves  and  their  com 
mands  as  others  would  have  seen  them.  And  fac 
tions,  and  parties,  and  politics,  the  curses  of  this 
Republic,  are  already  putting  in  their  unreason 
able  demands  for  the  foremost  honors  of  the  field. 
"Gen.  Hooker  won  Gettysburg."  How?  Not 
with  the  army  in  person  or  by  infinitesimal  influ 
ence —  leaving  it  almost  four  days  before  the  bat 
tle  when  both  armies  were  scattered  and  fifty  miles 
apart!  Was  ever  claim  so  absurd?  Hooker,  and 

[182] 


GETTYSBURG 

he  alone,  won  the  result  at  Chancellorsville. 
"Gen.  Howard  won  Gettysburg!"  "Sickles 
saved  the  day!"  Just  Heaven,  save  the  poor 
Army  of  the  Potomac  from  its  friends !  It  has 
more  to  dread  and  less  to  hope  from  them  than 
from  the  red  bannered  hosts  of  the  rebellion.  The 
states  prefer  each  her  claim  for  the  sole  brunt  and 
winning  of  the  fight.  "Pennsylvania  won  it!" 
"New  York  won  it!"  "Did  not  Old  Greece,  or 
some  tribe  from  about  the  sources  of  the  Nile  win 
it?"  For  modern  Greeks  —  from  Cork  —  and 
African  Hannibals  were  there.  Those  inter 
mingled  graves  along  the  crest  bearing  the  names 
of  every  loyal  state,  save  one  or  two,  should  ad 
monish  these  geese  to  cease  to  cackle.  One  of  the 
armies  of  the  country  won  the  battle,  and  that 
army  supposes  that  Gen.  Meade  led  it  upon  that 
occasion.  If  it  be  not  one  of  the  lessons  that  this 
war  teaches,  that  we  have  a  country  paramount 
and  supreme  over  faction,  and  party,  and  state, 
then  was  the  blood  of  fifty  thousand  citizens  shed 
on  this  field  in  vain.  For  the  reasons  mentioned, 
of  this  battle,  greater  than  that  of  Waterloo,  a  his 
tory,  just,  comprehensive,  complete  will  never  be 

[183] 


FRANK    A.     HASKELL 

written.  By-and-by,  out  of  the  chaos  of  trash 
and  falsehood  that  the  newspapers  hold,  out  of 
the  disjointed  mass  of  reports,  out  of  the  traditions 
and  tales  that  come  down  from  the  field,  some 
eye  that  never  saw  the  battle  will  select,  and  some 
pen  will  write  what  will  be  named  the  history. 
With  that  the  world  will  be  and,  if  we  are  alive, 
we  must  be,  content. 

Already,  as  I  rode  down  from  the  heights,  na 
ture's  mysterious  loom  was  at  work,  joining  and 
weaving  on  her  ceaseless  web  the  shells  had 
broken  there.     Another  spring  shall  green  these 
trampled  slopes,  and  flowers,  planted  by  unseen 
hands,  shall  bloom  upon  these  graves;   another 
autumn  and  the  yellow  harvest  shall  ripen  there  — 
all  not  in  less,  but  in  higher  perfection  for  this 
poured  out  blood.     In  another  decade  of  years, 
in  another  century,  or  age,  we  hope  that  the 
Union,  by  the  same  means,  may  repose  in  a  securer 
peace  and  bloom  in  a  higher  civilization.     Then 
what  matter  if  it  lame  Tradition  glean  on  this  field 
and  hand  down  her  garbled  sheaf  —  if  deft  story 
with  furtive  fingers  plait  her  ballad  wreaths,  deeds 
of  her  heroes  here?  or  if  stately  history  fill  as  she 

[184] 


GETTYSBURG 

list  her  arbitrary  tablet,  the  sounding  record  of  this 
fight?  Tradition,  story,  history  —  all  will  not 
efface  the  true,  grand  epic  of  Gettysburg. 

FRANK  A.  HASKELL. 
To  H.  M.  Haskell. 


THE 

;VERS!TY 


[185] 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
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on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
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i        LD  21A-50w-9,'58 
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